Gene discovery could improve anemia treatment in patients
March 18, 2017
MethodologyTwenty-eight patients (10 with knee OA, 10 with wrist OA, 8 with elbow OA) were assigned to an experimental group based upon the location of his/her diagnosed osteoarthritis (i.e., knee, elbow, or wrist). Each patient applied the cream to the affected area twice per day every day for one week and subsequently returned to the lab for post-study functional performance testing. Subjects were tested for pain, stiffness, knee range of motion (ROM), balance, and ability to rise from a chair, walk, and ascend/descend stairs for patients with knee osteoarthritis; patients with elbow and wrist osteoarthritis were tested for measures of grip strength, elbow ROM, muscular strength, local muscular endurance, and pain.
The significant improvements observed in the research team??™s previous investigation with use of a topical cream consisting of a blend of cetylated fatty acids, coupled and the high test-retest reliability (R = 0.95 to 0.99), precluded the need for a control group for this study.
ResultsFifteen test results were obtained for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, twelve for patients having OA in the elbow, and eight measurements were taken with patients diagnosed with wrist osteoarthritis. Across the board, the test measurements (available upon request) revealed that use of a cetylated fatty acid topical cream with the addition of menthol produced significant improvements in physical performance and reduced pain in patients with OA of the knee, wrist, and elbow.
ConclusionsTopical creams containing cetylated fatty acid are now being sold to consumers for the knee osteoarthritis. This study demonstrates that the addition of menthol adds a new pain relief component to the treatment and its effectiveness for osteoarthritis of the knee, elbow and wrist.
The American Physiological Society (APS) is America??™s oldest biomedical sciences research society. The not-for-profit society, with some 11,000 members, is the publisher of 14 scientific journals, including the American Journal of Physiology, which has been published since 1898.