Massage is already widely used to treat osteoarthritis, for which other treatments have concerning side effects.
"It is important for a minority of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, " he says.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects more than 3 million Americans, and osteoarthritis affects about 16 million Americans.
The only current treatments for osteoarthritis are painkillers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, which are also given to dull pain.
In many ways, this study may potentially change how medical providers approach patients with symptomatic meniscal tears and osteoarthritis.
Cox II Inhibitors are regarded as the latest generation of drugs designed to treat the long-term effects and the pain associated with osteoarthritis.
Dr Madeleine Devey, scientific secretary of the Arthritis Research Campaign, said many people with osteoarthritis had been taking glucosamine sulphate for many years.
Osteoarthritis results when cartilage around the joints degenerates, resulting in lameness.
Its products--including Synvisc, which is injected into the knee to treat osteoarthritis, and Hylaform, which corrects facial wrinkles--are all based on a single chemical called hyaluronan.
More than nine years ago Mr Kennish began to experience severe back pain which was later diagnosed as a disintegrating disc disease and osteoarthritis of the spine.
The trial compares Novartis' (nyse: NVS - news - people ) experimental cox-2 drug Prexige to two older drugs, ibuprofen and naproxen, in 18, 325 osteoarthritis sufferers.
Investigators at seven universities and orthopedic surgery centers in the US studied 351 patients aged 45 years or older who had a meniscal tear and mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis of the knee.
Small strokes, osteoarthritis and pneumonia, for example, are all detectable through examination of a person's movements, and are all common ailments among the elderly that can lead to falls, he said.
The SEC and the Justice Department said the men traded shares dating back to 2006 of companies whose drugs were used for colon cancer, schizophrenia, insomnia, severe constipation, osteoarthritis and heart disease.
And a study that was done at the Utah School of Medicine compared these medications with giving people a placebo which had no effectiveness and giving people one of the standard treatments for osteoarthritis.
The METEOR study, (Meniscal Tear in Osteoarthritis Research) demonstrated no significant difference in functional improvement after 6 months between patients who underwent surgery with postoperative physical therapy compared with those who received standard physical therapy alone.
But Pfizer says that a second, similar study--called the PreSAP trial--does not show an increase in cardiovascular events, and that it still hopes to go forward with a study to prevent heart attacks in patients with osteoarthritis.
Patients who suffer from osteoarthritis and who also have a meniscal tear represent a challenge to medical providers because it is often not clear which condition is more adversely contributing to pain as well as their disability.
Obesity and the state of being overweight substantially raises their risk of morbidity from hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, and endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancers.
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In late February, a physician appeared on the Washington, DC Fox affiliate to inform consumers of a Yale University study claiming exposure to PFCs (important and ubiquitous stain and water-resistant compounds) leads to osteoarthritis in women.
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