To most people with severe osteoarthr
itis who are just struggling to get by, the idea that within a decade their condition could be taken as seriously as it deserves to be would be welcome news.
Yes, scientists in Britain are close to producing a simple test for predicting crippling arthritis in later life within years -- the investigation is the largest ever undertaken to identify the genetic causes of a common disease, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
"We're really on the edge of a brave new era in osteoarthritis,"; leading researcher Prof Tim Spector of St Thomas's Hospital was quoted as saying. He is among 30 genetic scientists in Britain to undertake the research.
After taking DNA samples from 8,000 sufferers of severe osteoarthritis and comparing them with those from 6,000 healthy "controls", the researchers are planning to sweep the whole human genome to identify a "suite" of genes that can be used as the basis for a test.
