This comes after a team of researchers from the US-based Duke University Medica Center successfully predicted knee osteoarthritis through a blood test at least eight years before signs of the disease appeared on X-rays.
In a study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers validate the accuracy of a blood test that identifies key biomarkers of osteoarthritis.
They showed that it predicted the development of the disease as well as its progression.
According to Virginia Byers Cross, senior author of the study and professor at Duke University School of Medicine, the blood test shows that "it is possible to detect this disease much earlier than our current diagnosis allows".
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, affecting an estimated 3 million adults in the US.Although there is currently no cure, potential new treatments could address it by identifying it early and slowing its progression before it is too late, the study suggests.
Researchers studied a large database in Britain and analyzed the serum of 20 white women.
Half of the women were diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis, while the other half did not have the disease.
Both groups were matched on body mass index and age.
They identified certain biomarkers in blood tests that were successful in distinguishing women with knee osteoarthritis from women without osteoarthritis.Biomarkers detected molecular signs of osteoarthritis until eight years ago, when many women were diagnosed with the disease through X-ray tests.
According to Cross, this is important because it provides additional evidence that there are abnormalities in the joint that can be identified by the blue biomarker long before an X-ray would indicate osteoarthritis.
In a study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers validate the accuracy of a blood test that identifies key biomarkers of osteoarthritis.
They showed that it predicted the development of the disease as well as its progression.
According to Virginia Byers Cross, senior author of the study and professor at Duke University School of Medicine, the blood test shows that "it is possible to detect this disease much earlier than our current diagnosis allows".
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, affecting an estimated 3 million adults in the US.Although there is currently no cure, potential new treatments could address it by identifying it early and slowing its progression before it is too late, the study suggests.
Researchers studied a large database in Britain and analyzed the serum of 20 white women.
Half of the women were diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis, while the other half did not have the disease.
Both groups were matched on body mass index and age.
They identified certain biomarkers in blood tests that were successful in distinguishing women with knee osteoarthritis from women without osteoarthritis.Biomarkers detected molecular signs of osteoarthritis until eight years ago, when many women were diagnosed with the disease through X-ray tests.
According to Cross, this is important because it provides additional evidence that there are abnormalities in the joint that can be identified by the blue biomarker long before an X-ray would indicate osteoarthritis.
