Strategies for the prevention of osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common age-related disorder which can result in severe pain and disability, and which is becoming one of the most important health-care challenges of the future. Previous negative attitudes to this condition are being dispelled by current research findings, which indicate that prevention and effective treatment will be possible in the future. Risk-factor analyses suggest that many cases can be prevented by reducing the amount of obesity in the community, and by changing certain high-risk occupations, as well as reducing the incidence of joint trauma. Work on the processes involved in the generation of OA have led to strategies for the secondary prevention of the condition, through drugs that either inhibit connective-tissue breakdown and/or stimulate repair. Recent developments in the management of established OA indicate that much of the pain and disability suffered in the community as a result of this disease is also preventable.