Osteoarthritis Clinical Trials

It Is Wear, Not the Immune Kind

This is the wear and tear kind, where the smooth surface in a joint thins over years. So it is not the immune kind, which attacks joints from the inside and often runs in the family. Meanwhile, the two get treated very differently and go to different studies. Notably, telling them apart is the first thing any clinic will do.

Your Grade Decides Which Studies Take You

X rays are scored from 1 to 4, from barely there to bone on bone. So that single number opens or closes most drug studies. Most want grade 2 or 3, which is the middle. In fact, one study here takes grade 4 as well, and that is unusual enough to be worth knowing.

Ask for Your Grade and Your Score

Two numbers do almost all the work at screening. One is the X ray grade. The other is a pain and function score, often called WOMAC. So ask your own doctor for both before you call anybody. Meanwhile, knowing them saves you a wasted trip.

Weight and the Knee Are Now One Question

Every pound off the body takes several pounds of load off a knee with each step. So the newer weight drugs are being tested for knee pain directly. Two such studies run near Charlotte, one as a weekly shot and one as a daily tablet. However, both rule out anyone with diabetes and anyone who has used these drugs before.

Movement Helps, and the Dose Is the Open Question

Being told to exercise a painful joint sounds unhelpful, and it is usually said badly. However, graded activity is one of the steadiest findings in this whole field. So how much is enough is exactly what the Columbia study is measuring. Notably, that study has no dummy group at all.

Hands, Thumbs and Shoulders Get Left Out

Almost every study picks a knee or a hip, and that leaves a lot of people with nothing. Nothing for the hand, thumb or shoulder is open in either metro today. So the walking study at Columbia is the only open option here that takes any joint. Meanwhile, the nearest option aimed at hands and shoulders runs near Raleigh.

Joint Replacement Studies Are a Different Animal

Four of the open studies near Charlotte are about surgery you were already having. So nobody is randomly assigned to an operation, and nobody gets a fake one. The research part is the follow up rather than the treatment. In fact, that makes them among the easier studies to say yes to, if surgery is already the plan.

The Approach Your Surgeon Uses Can Decide It

One hip study only fits if you are operated on lying on your side. So an operation done from the front closes that door immediately. Also, a live injury claim or a workers compensation case excludes you from the same study. Meanwhile, both questions get answered in about a minute on the phone.

Injections Bought Now Can Cost You Later

Gel, steroid and platelet injections all carry waiting periods before a study will take you. Three to six months is common, depending on which one you had. So if a study interests you, ask about the wait before booking another injection. Notably, this is the single most avoidable reason people get turned away.

Where Things Actually Stand Locally

Seven studies are open around Charlotte, covering knees, hips and one elbow. The Midlands has one, and it is the walking study, which takes any joint. So the picture is unusually lopsided between the two cities right now. However, the nearest knee injection study to Columbia is about two hours away at North Charleston.

Joint Wear Help Near You

Ask for your X ray grade and your pain score, because studies gate on both numbers. Also, ask about the wait after any injection before you book another one. Finally, if surgery is already planned, ask whether a tracking study fits, since those add very little. Meanwhile, join the list and we will call you when something new opens here.