In a new study, researchers found that drug tanezumab may help reduce arthritis pain effectively.
For people with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee or hip, using the drug is linked to big improvements in pain and physical functions.
The research was conducted by a team from Northwestern University and their collaborators.
OA is a condition that affects the whole joint including bone, cartilage, ligaments, and muscles.
Although often described as ‘wear and tear’, OA is now thought to be the result of a joint working extra hard to repair itself.
OA may include inflammation of the tissue around a joint.
In the current study, the team examined 698 patients with moderate to severe OA of the knee or hip. These patients did not respond well to standard treatment of OA.
The patients took drug tanezumab for 16 weeks.
The team found that there were large improvements in joint pain, the physical function of the patients.
But they also found that the patients had more joint safety events and total joint replacements.
They say further research is needed to confirm the drug effects and negative event findings.
The lead author of the study is Thomas J. Schnitzer, M.D., Ph.D., from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Eli Lilly, which manufacture tanezumab and funded the study.
The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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