Feature Channels: Bone Health

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AACC is pleased to see an additional $2 million for lab test harmonization in the FY 2018 omnibus spending package. The association has worked to advance harmonization – or uniform test results -- for more than a decade, most recently leading efforts to raise awareness in Congress of the need for CDC funding for harmonization. AACC is gratified that its multiyear effort has resulted in a positive outcome. The new funding will enable CDC to broaden its harmonization initiative, which is vital to ensuring that patients receive accurate diagnoses and effective medical treatment.

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The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) announced today that Congress, with the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, has approved a plan to expand access to chiropractic’s nondrug approach to pain relief to veterans, many of whom suffer from back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions resulting from their service.

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As more patients undergo total hip arthroplasty (THA) before age 65, the rate of repeat hip surgery due to complications has risen sharply in this younger age group, reports a study in the March 21, 2018, issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.

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American Chiropractic Association (ACA) Interim President N. Ray Tuck, Jr. releases a statement in response to The Lancet’s new series of articles on low back pain, published yesterday, which includes a call to action for greater awareness and better approaches to this growing global problem.

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Patients who have been taking opioid pain relievers for several months before spinal fusion surgery are at increased risk of complications after their surgery, reports a study in the journal Spine, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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This week, a 40-year-old patient was treated at UNC’s Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) with SB-913, an investigational genome editing therapy for individuals with mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), a rare lysosomal storage disorder also known as Hunter syndrome.

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A new report finds that extremely obese people who have a band surgically strapped around their stomachs to restrict food intake not only lose weight but also suffer less from arthritic knee pain.

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Tissue-engineering technique based on a novel cylindrical scaffolding design seeded with collagen-secreting cells yields grafts for articular cartilage repair with superior mechanical strength and durability.

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Scientists are bringing precision medicine to rheumatoid arthritis for the first time by using genetic profiling of joint tissue to see which drugs will work for which patients, reports a new Northwestern Medicine multi-site study.In the near future, patients won’t have to waste time and be disappointed with months of ineffective therapy, scientists said.

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An Ohio integrated health system and a national social enterprise have announced a new alliance to mobilize tens of millions of dollars for underinvested communities—starting with a $45 million effort to scale up economic opportunity and improve health outcomes in Toledo and the surrounding region over the next decade.

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The heart-healthy Mediterranean diet also appears to be good for an older woman’s bones and muscles, a new study of postmenopausal women in Brazil finds. The study results will be presented Monday at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society’s 100th annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

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New research presented at ENDO 2018 links semen count to other health problems

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Cells made by fusing a normal human muscle cell with a muscle cell from a person with  Duchenne muscular dystrophy —a rare but fatal form of muscular dystrophy — were able to significantly improve muscle function when implanted into the muscles of a mouse model of the disease. The findings are reported by researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Stem Cell Reviews and Reports.

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Spin caloritronics explores how heat currents transport electron spin, and researchers are particularly interested in how waste heat could be used to power next-generation spintronic devices. The thermally driven transport application of spin caloritronics is based on the Seebeck effect; researchers in China have theoretically exposed the fundamental aspects of this thermal transport along double-stranded DNA molecules. They reported their findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.

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For the first time, scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have been able to measure a specific molecule indicative of osteoarthritis and a number of other inflammatory diseases using a newly developed technology.

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Recent statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that almost one-third of all childhood injuries are sports-related, and that more than half of those are preventable.

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The absence of TTP, a protein critical to the control of inflammation, may lead to rapid and severe bone loss, according to a new study led by the University at Buffalo.

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Mercy Medical Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rebecca Cerrato is one of the first surgeons in the United States to offer minimally invasive bunion surgery, an alternative to traditional surgery that can reduce post-surgical scarring, swelling and pain

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Many hip disorders are the result of chronic undiagnosed conditions caused when active women push themselves beyond their limits.

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The American College of Rheumatology has published a new white paper, “The Science Behind Biosimilars — Entering a New Era of Biologic Therapy,” which shares the organization’s stance that it is reasonable for physicians to begin integrating the prescription of biosimilars as another option of medication in patient treatment, where appropriate. S. Louis Bridges Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, served as the lead author on the paper.

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Medicare’s experimental mandatory bundled payment model for knee and hip replacements is more likely to yield cost savings when the surgeries are performed in larger hospitals that do more of these procedures, according to a study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Non-profit and major teaching hospital status also appear to be associated with cost savings, the Penn Medicine analysis found.

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Dislocation is one of the most common complications after hip replacement and the number one reason for revision surgery. Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery found that study patients who received a newer implant known as a “dual mobility” hip replacement had zero dislocations.

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Christopher Rowles, 59, was sidelined after losing half of his leg to amputation in 2011. Thanks to a new technique called osseointegration, he's back to pursuing his favorite hobby -- river fishing. Rowles is one of the first people in the country to undergo the novel procedure, which permanently anchors a titanium implant into the leg bone.

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By studying mice in late adolescence, Johns Hopkins University researchers have discovered that the rapid bone growth associated with puberty is slowed not only by fewer cartilage cell divisions but also by the “aging” of bone cell precursor cells. After investigating the signaling molecules that promote this transition, the scientists conclude that some weak and brittle bone conditions in both children and adults may be due to the cells’ premature “retirement” caused by glucocorticoid treatments given during puberty to treat chronic inflammation resulting from rheumatoid disorders and other diseases.

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Research led by orthopedic surgeon James D. Slover, MD of NYU Langone Health, reveals that people with undiagnosed neurocognitive deficits are undergoing hip and knee replacements at high rates and are more likely to have poorer short-term outcomes after surgery.

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nalytic software developed by orthopedic trauma surgeons at NYU Langone Health accurately identifies which middle-aged and elderly patients face a greater mortality risk following surgery for an orthopedic fracture, according to a new study.

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A study led by Jonathan Vigdorchik, MD, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Health, suggests that a new risk prediction model and treatment algorithm may help identify patients at high risk for postoperative dislocation following a hip replacement, and who may benefit from the use of alternative implants.

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A multimodal approach to pain management (using two or more different methods or medications to manage pain) rather than using opioids alone was associated with a decrease in opioid use, opioid prescriptions and common opioid-related complications in patients undergoing total hip or knee replacements.

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Hip replacement surgery not only improves quality of life but is also associated with increased life expectancy, compared to people of similar age and sex, reports a study in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® (CORR®), a publication of The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons®. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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A new Medicare records study by Johns Hopkins researchers has added to mounting evidence that a common surgery designed to remove damaged, worn ends of the thin rubbery cartilage in the knee joint brings little or no benefit to people over the age of 65.

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A new study from Indiana University suggests that a compound previously tested to treat osteoarthritis pain appears to block neuropathic pain and decrease signs of opioid dependence.

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Led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, a diverse team of neuroscientists and surgeons successfully grafted human neural progenitor cells into rhesus monkeys with spinal cord injuries. The grafts not only survived, but grew hundreds of thousands of human axons and synapses, resulting in improved forelimb function in the monkeys.

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The finding “opens up a whole new research area to look at neuroinflammation in the context of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” the lead researcher says. “But the clinical impact will be in many, many different areas.”

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A New Outpatient Rehabilitation Program at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics (RIAO) at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore Is Enhancing Orthotic Care with New Pressure-Sensing 3D Technology That Can Help Physicians More Precisely Pinpoint the Cause of—and Better Treat—Foot-Related Ailments.

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The Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore recently became the first health care facility in Maryland to offer a new, minimally invasive surgical procedure for treating irritated nerves in the neck.

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Individuals with tetraplegia prioritize development of technology to restore lost upper limb strength and dexterity as a means to improve quality of life. This study aims to demonstrate a wearable functional electrical stimulation (FES) orthotic provided manual dexterity for object manipulation through a thought-controlled brain-computer interface (BCI).

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Caring for patients with physical disabilities, particularly spinal cord injury (SCI), is not routinely part of the medical school curriculum. However, 17 percent of Americans are physically disabled, and there are nearly 17,000 new cases of SCI in America each year. Many patients report needing to educate their providers on the basic details of their disabilities. Furthermore, medical students and residents report discomfort caring for patients with disabilities. Researchers developed a curriculum for medical students to address this gap.

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A study from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) explains why the risk of osteoarthritis increases as we age and offers a potential avenue for developing new therapies to maintain healthy joints.

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The American College of Rheumatology was awarded a grant from the American Society of Association Executives to develop a new program, Uniting Collaborators for Innovation (UCOIN), that focuses on creating member-led initiatives that diminish racial and ethnic disparities in patients with rheumatic diseases.

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The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) welcomes members of the press to write about rheumatology research presented the State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium (SOTA) in Chicago, IL, on April 13-15.

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Falling is no joke when you're a senior citizen or have balance issues. Vanderbilt engineers are working on a 'smart cane' that could help physical therapists spot and treat problems sooner.

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A simple three-factor tool can help doctors estimate survival time in patients with long bone metastases (LBMs)—advanced cancer that has spread to the bones of the limbs, reports a study in the February 7, 2018, issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. Reliable survival estimates in these cases can help prevent overtreatment and undertreatment.

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Hospital for Special Surgery has developed a patient questionnaire to the measure physical and psychological effects of brachial plexus injury and help manage patients’ treatment expectations.

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Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have discovered a molecule that enhances cartilage regeneration and decreases inflammation.

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Scientists at University of Utah Health believe they identified a mechanism that activates T cells, a key component of the immune system, which could explain the elusive link between a tick bite and persistent Lyme arthritis. The results are published online in the February 5th issue of The Journal of Immunology.

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Late breaking abstracts

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A powerful protein inside the body helps naturally repair bone injuries. Increasing it in some patients could jump-start the process, a new rodent study finds.

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Healthy Eating Could Decrease Risk of Vertebral Fractures, Especially in Women

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The 2018 Experimental Biology meeting will be held April 21-25 in San Diego. With more than 14,000 attendees and hundreds of scientific sessions, EB 2018 is a life science research bonanza you won’t want to miss.

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The ACR urged HHS to reform its prior authorization policies, to reverse a recent HHS decision to apply Part B drug spending to payment adjustments under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS); require pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to be more transparent; and continue supporting biosimilar innovation.