What if changing the way you walk could really relieve arthritis?

From futura-sciences.com

Nearly one in four adults over 40 lives with the daily discomfort of osteoarthritis, a condition that gradually wears down the cartilage cushioning the joints. Once that cartilage is damaged, there is no way to restore it. For many patients, treatment becomes a long road of pain medication, eventually leading to joint replacement surgery 

A study published in The Lancet Rheumatology on August 12, 2025 suggests there may be another option: gait retraining. Researchers from the University of Utah, New York University, and Stanford University found that adjusting the angle of the foot while walking can significantly reduce pain. Also slowing cartilage deterioration in the knee. The findings come from a year long randomized controlled trial.

                                              What if changing the way you walk could really relieve arthritis? © Harbucks

First placebo controlled proof

Co-led by Scott Uhlrich, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in Utah’s John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, the study is the first placebo controlled trial to show that a biomechanical intervention can effectively treat osteoarthritis symptoms. “We’ve known that for people with osteoarthritis, higher loads in their knee accelerate progression, and that changing the foot angle can reduce knee load,” Uhlrich said. “So the idea of a biomechanical intervention is not new, but there have not been randomized, placebo-controlled studies to show that they’re effective.”

Participants who modified their walking pattern reported pain relief comparable to common medications. Furthermore, MRI scans revealed slower cartilage deterioration in those who adopted the personalized walking adjustments, compared to those who received a sham treatment. “The reported decrease in pain over the placebo group was somewhere between what you’d expect from an over-the-counter medication, like ibuprofen, and a narcotic, like OxyContin,” Uhlrich said.

A personalised approach to knee osteoarthritis

The researchers focused on individuals with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis affecting the medial compartment. Specifically the knee’s inner side, which bears more load than the outer. Earlier studies often prescribed the same foot angle change to everyone. Not every knee responds the same way. For some participants, a standard adjustment did little to reduce joint loading and could even worsen it. This time, the team opted for a personalized strategy.

Lead researcher Scott Uhlrich measures a participant’s gait. At the beginning of the study, participants received a baseline MRI and walked on a force-sensitive treadmill while motion-capture cameras recorded their walking mechanics. © Utah Movement Bioengineering Lab

Using motion capture cameras and a pressure sensitive treadmill, researchers measured how each participant’s knee responded when they walked with their toes pointed slightly inward or outward. They then determined whether a five or ten degree shift reduced stress most effectively. Participants for whom no foot angle change reduced knee stress were excluded. That careful selection required screening 1,582 volunteers to recruit 68 participants, and may explain why previous trials produced inconclusive results.

Placebo versus intervention

After baseline MRI scans and gait assessments, the 68 participants divided into two groups. One group received a sham intervention, walking with a foot angle identical to their natural gait. The other adopted a customized foot angle shown to reduce knee loading. Both groups attended six weekly training sessions, during which a device attached to the shin delivered gentle vibrations as biofeedback, helping participants maintain their prescribed foot position while walking on a treadmill.

After the supervised phase, participants practiced their new gait for at least 20 minutes daily. Follow-up visits confirmed remarkable precision, with most staying within one degree of their assigned angle. After a year, participants reported their pain levels and underwent a second MRI. The reduction in pain fell somewhere between an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory and a stronger prescription painkiller. Meanwhile, imaging showed measurable protection of cartilage health.

A long term option for pain management

Beyond the numbers, participants expressed enthusiasm for the approach. One told researchers:

“I don’t have to take a drug or wear a device — it’s just a part of my body now that will be with me for the rest of my days, so that I’m thrilled with.” For many, the appeal was its simplicity. No daily medication. No device to wear indefinitely.

The motion capture technology used in the study is expensive and time consuming. However, researchers are developing mobile solutions using smartphone video and smart footwear to make personalization feasible in physical therapy clinics. “Especially for people in their 30s, 40s, or 50s, osteoarthritis could mean decades of pain management before they’re recommended for a joint replacement,” Uhlrich said. “This intervention could help fill that large treatment gap.” Further studies are needed before the approach can be rolled out broadly, but the trial’s scale and design give the findings more credibility than most early stage interventions can claim.

https://www.futura-sciences.com/en/what-if-changing-the-way-you-walk-could-really-relieve-arthritis_26670/

The Best Medicine For Joint Pain Isn't What You Think, Says Expert

From sciencealert.com

                                                                      (Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

Stiff knees, aching hips, and the slow grind of chronic joint pain are often accepted as an unavoidable part of getting older.

But while osteoarthritis is the world's most common joint disease, experts say the way we treat and prevent it is badly out of step with the evidence.

The best medicine isn't found in a pill bottle or an operating theatre – it's movement. Yet across countries and health systems, too few patients are being guided toward the one therapy proven to protect their joints and ease their pain: exercise.

Exercise is one of the most effective treatments for chronic, disabling joint conditions such as osteoarthritis. Yet very few patients actually receive it.

Research across health systems in Ireland, the UK, Norway, and the United States shows the same pattern: fewer than half of people with osteoarthritis are referred to exercise or physiotherapy by their primary care provider.

More than 60 percent are given treatments that guidelines do not recommend, and around 40 percent are sent to a surgeon before non-surgical options have even been tried.

To understand why those figures are so troubling, it helps to understand what exercise does for joints. Osteoarthritis is by far the most common form of arthritis, already affecting more than 595 million people worldwide.

According to a global study in The Lancet, that number could approach one billion by 2050. Longer life expectancy, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and rising numbers of overweight or obese people are driving the trend.

Yet people who exercise regularly are physically and biologically protecting themselves from developing the disease and from suffering its worst effects.

The cartilage that covers the ends of our bones is a tough, protective layer with no blood supply of its own. It relies on movement.

Like a sponge, cartilage is compressed when we walk or load a joint, squeezing fluid out and then drawing fresh nutrients back in. Each step allows nutrients and natural lubricants to circulate and maintain joint health.

That is why the old idea of osteoarthritis as simple "wear and tear" is misleading. Joints are not car tires that inevitably grind down.

Osteoarthritis is better understood as a long process of wear and repair in which regular movement and exercise are critical to healing and to the health of the entire joint.

                                                                  Osteoarthritis impacts the whole joint region. (SimpleImages/Moment/Getty Images)

A disease of the whole joint

We now know osteoarthritis is a whole-joint disease. It affects the joint fluid, the underlying bone, the ligaments, the surrounding muscles, and even the nerves that support movement.

Therapeutic exercise targets all these elements. Muscle weakness, for instance, is one of the earliest signs of osteoarthritis and can be improved with resistance training. There is strong evidence that muscle weakness increases the risk of both developing the disease and seeing it progress.

Nerve and muscle control can also be trained through neuromuscular exercise programs such as GLA:D® (Good Life with osteoArthritis: Denmark) for hip and knee osteoarthritis. Usually delivered in supervised group sessions by physiotherapists, these programs focus on movement quality, balance, and strength to improve joint stability and rebuild confidence.

Significant improvements in pain, joint function, and quality of life have been recorded for up to 12 months after completing the program.

Exercise is good medicine for the whole body: it has documented benefits across more than 26 chronic diseases. In osteoarthritis, it helps not only by strengthening cartilage and muscle but also by tackling the inflammation, metabolic changes, and hormonal shifts that drive the disease.

Obesity is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis, and not merely because of the extra mechanical load on joints. High levels of inflammatory molecules in the blood and in joint tissues can degrade cartilage and accelerate disease.

For osteoarthritis, regular activity can counter this at a molecular level, lowering inflammatory markers, limiting cell damage, and even altering gene expression.

Exercise first, surgery later

Currently there are no drugs that modify the course of osteoarthritis. Joint replacement surgery can be life-changing for some people, but it is major surgery and does not succeed for everyone.

Exercise should be tried first and continued throughout every stage of the disease. It carries far fewer side effects and brings many additional health benefits.

Osteoarthritis is not simply a matter of "worn-out" joints. It is shaped by muscle strength, inflammation, metabolism, and lifestyle.

Regular, targeted exercise addresses many of these factors at once – helping to protect cartilage, strengthen the whole joint and improve overall health. Before considering surgery, movement itself remains one of the most powerful treatments we have.

Clodagh Toomey, Physiotherapist and Associate Professor, School of Allied Health, University of Limerick

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-best-medicine-for-joint-pain-isnt-what-you-think-says-expert

Scientists develop drug that may regrow knee cartilage and stop arthritis

From indiatoday.in

If your knees crack when you climb stairs or ache long after a workout, there may be good news ahead. Stanford Medicine researchers have developed a drug that could change how doctors treat joint damage, especially in ageing knees.

Their findings, published in the journal Science, suggest it could be possible to regenerate knee cartilage without surgery.

Cartilage is the smooth tissue that cushions the ends of bones in a joint. As people age, this tissue slowly wears down.

Once damaged, cartilage usually does not repair itself, which is why conditions like osteoarthritis worsen over time and lead to joint replacement surgery.

              New study findings suggest it could be possible to regenerate knee cartilage without surgery. (Photo: Getty Images)

WHAT DID THE RESEARCHERS DO?

The Stanford team focused on a protein called 15-PGDH. As we grow older, the levels of this protein increase in knee cartilage, almost doubling with age.

The problem is that 15-PGDH breaks down prostaglandin E2, a substance that helps cartilage stay healthy and repair itself.

In simple terms, this protein blocks the joint’s natural healing ability.

When researchers blocked 15-PGDH in older mice, they saw striking results. The cartilage did not just stop thinning, it actually grew back.

The joint surface became thicker, and the animals moved more easily. Importantly, this repair happened without stem cells or surgery. The existing cartilage cells were “reawakened” to behave like younger cells again.

The researchers then tested the same approach on human knee tissue taken from patients undergoing knee replacement surgery. After one week of treatment with a 15-PGDH inhibitor, the tissue showed signs of new cartilage formation and less damage.

According to study co-author Nidhi Bhutani, the regeneration seen was stronger than with any other drug tested so far.

KNEE CARTILAGE REGENERATION PREVENTS ARTHRITIS

In another experiment, mice with ligament injuries similar to ACL tears received injections twice a week for four weeks. These mice did not go on to develop arthritis, unlike untreated mice.

This finding could be especially important for people who injure their knees during sports or exercise.

This treatment is not yet available for patients. The drug that blocks 15-PGDH is currently in early-stage (Phase 1) clinical trials for age-related muscle weakness, and early results are encouraging.

The technology has been licensed to a biotech company called Epirium Bio, co-founded by lead researcher Helen Blau. The company plans to start trials focused on cartilage and arthritis.

If successful, this approach could help millions of people with knee pain and arthritis, and possibly delay or avoid the need for joint replacement surgery altogether.

https://www.indiatoday.in/health/story/stanford-university-develop-drug-regenerate-knee-cartilage-without-surgery-arthritis-2847955-2026-01-07 

The world’s 1st vegan collagen for joints is finally here — and it works

From independent.co.uk

Experience noticeable benefits in just 90 days 

There comes a moment in every woman’s life when their joints begin to remind us that they’re there, be it a bit of stiffness after a long day, a squeaky knee in your morning yoga flow or the nervous anticipation that accompanies rising from a deep armchair. For many of us over 35, these changes simply feel in keeping with the natural rhythm of ageing, but perhaps it doesn’t have to be that way, with modern science suggesting that joint support doesn’t always mean surgery or compromise.

Collagen has long been hailed as a supplement for skin and joint health, but until recently the options were limited. Marine and bovine collagens have dominated the market, while so-called ‘vegan collagens’ rarely contain collagen at all, instead relying on plant extracts that only aim to stimulate production. For women seeking something both effective and ethical, the landscape has been frustratingly sparse.

This is the gap that Feel – a UK-based wellness brand – is striving to close. Its new Pro Collagen Type 2 for Joints (prices from £39.50, Wearefeel.com) is the world’s first vegan collagen supplement of its kind, using a unique bio-mimetic formula that’s designed to mirror the exact collagen type found in human cartilage. Backed by clinical trials and built with sustainability in mind, it takes a contemporary approach to joint care, combining innovation, efficacy and responsibility in one daily ritual.

A new standard for collagen supplements

Feel Type 2 Collagen for Joints is the only collagen in the world that is identical to human Type 2 Collagen. (Feel)

Unlike marine or bovine formulas, Feel’s vegan collagen – powered by a component called VeCollal® – is created through advanced fermentation, producing amino acid chains that mirror human Type 2 collagen, which is the very protein found in cartilage. This is what makes it unique: rather than asking the body to make do, it actively engages with the collagen genes in cartilage cells, stimulating up to 50 per cent of them.

In practice, that translates to improved flexibility, better joint cushioning, and even measurable gains in bone density. Clinical studies have shown benefits in as little as 12 weeks, suggesting this isn’t just another wellness fad, but a scientifically grounded shift for joint health.

The two teaspoon ritual for real clinically proven results

In 12 weeks, participants noticed a 67% reduction in joint stiffness (Feel)

Supplements that demand complicated routines rarely stick. Feel’s collagen was designed for ease, available as a powder in two flavours – watermelon or mango-vanilla – that dissolve within a glass of water. The recommended dose of two teaspoons a day (or 6g) is all you’ll need to see results over time, making it a non-cumbersome routine addition to your breakfast or mid-afternoon break.

Beyond cartilage support, the formula also includes vitamin C to aid absorption, turmeric for inflammation and elderberry for antioxidant protection. Together, these extras ensure Feel’s type 2 collagen can support not just movement, but wider health resilience, too.

The mobility mindset

For women navigating busy lives, decreasing bone density becomes not only uncomfortable, but inconvenient amid the increasing demands of the modern world. With Feel, you can expect to see improvements to stiffness and inflammation and, unlike traditional collagens (which are harder for the body to absorb), the smaller molecular size of the type 2 pro collagen allows for easier uptake and faster results.

Whether you practise a vegan diet or you’re simply looking to cut down on your animal-derived intake, Feel equips you with the means to do so – without compromising on effectiveness. With 20 per cent off first orders across all collagen lines using the code ‘INDITYPE2’, this is your invitation to explore what your day to day could look like with better joint and bone health.

Try it now

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/feel-worlds-first-vegan-collagen-for-joints-b2843225.html

Nose Cartilage Can Help Repair Knee Injuries, Researchers Say

From usnews.com

TUESDAY, March 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- An awkward fall while running, skiing or playing sports can cause knee injuries that sideline players and increase their risk of future arthritis.

But most of the time, there’s nothing wrong with their noses, and that might prove the key to repairing their knees and getting them back on their feet, a new study suggests.

Replacement cartilage engineered from the nasal septum -- the cartilage wall that separates the left and right airways in your nose -- can be used to repair even the most complex knee injuries, researchers report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

“Nasal septum cartilage cells have particular characteristics that are ideally suited to cartilage regeneration,” senior researcher Ivan Martin said in a news release. He's head of biomedicine with the University of Basel in Switzerland.

For example, it has been shown that these cells can counteract inflammation in joints, researchers said.

Torn cartilage in the knee can create long-term problems for active people, because this tissue does not heal itself. Cartilage forms a buffer between bones, and a loss of cartilage will eventually lead to arthritis.

                                                                                                        HealthDay

The new knee repair process involves extracting cells from a tiny piece of a patient’s nasal septum, and then growing the cells in a lab on a scaffold made of soft fibres, researchers explained in background notes.

The newly grown cartilage is then cut into the required shape and implanted into the knee joint.

For their new clinical trial, researchers recruited 98 patients at clinics in four different countries.

The trial compared two different approaches involving cartilage grafts grown for only two days prior to surgery versus grafts allowed to mature for two weeks.

Participants were tracked for two years, regularly reporting their well-being and how well their repaired knee was working.

Results showed clear improvements in both groups, but those who received the more mature grafts fared better, researchers said. 

They continued to improve even in the second year following the procedure, overtaking the group with grafts grown in a couple of days.

MRI scans showed that the more mature cartilage grafts resulted in better tissue composition at the site of the implant, even benefitting nearby natural cartilage. 

“It is noteworthy that patients with larger injuries benefit from cartilage grafts with longer prior maturation periods,” investigator Andrea Barbero, a research group leader with the University of Basel, said in a news release.

This also applies to cases where previous cartilage treatments with other techniques have been unsuccessful, Barbero noted.

Researchers next plan to test this procedure’s effectiveness for treating wear-and-tear arthritis caused by the degeneration of knee cartilage.

The procedure could prove an alternative to knee replacement surgery if results pan out, researchers concluded.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more about torn cartilage in the knee.

SOURCE: University of Basel, news release, March 5, 2025 

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-03-11/nose-cartilage-can-help-repair-knee-injuries-researchers-say