Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is at least 10 times more common than rheumatoid arthritis, and its prevalence is likely to increase with increasing longevity. Osteoarthritis therefore is of great concern to society due to its economic impact. The industry is highly motivated to invest in drug developments targeting osteoarthritis. The disease is furthermore common enough to be of interest to the medical profession’s generalists who in most health care systems will se the majority of the suffering patients. Orthopaedists and rheumatologists try to define, understand and treat the condition with variable success. It is not immediately obvious why osteoarthritis should be of interest to dermatologists, if not at a basic science level. Extra cellular matrix research of skin and cartilage certainly cover much common ground. Therefore it is a great pleasure to contribute this chapter to a volume edited by my friends Carmel Mallia and Jounni Uitto, and acknowledge their skill and enthusiasm and that of Joe Pace in conceiving and pursuing the successful concept of ReumaDerm. The reader will appreciate that this is a discussion and personal position paper based on work from other groups and from my own group, which I may have facilitated but which I have not actually performed.