| Researchers identify genes that increase rheumatoid arthritis risk
Researchers in the United States and Sweden have identified a genetic region associated with increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis , a chronic and debilitating inflammatory disease of the joints.
The results appeared in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The U.S. group compared 908 blood samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis from 1,282 people without the disease. The Swedish group compared 676 samples from patients with the disease with 673 controls.
Both groups' searches led them to a region of chromosome 9 containing two genes relevant to chronic inflammation: TRAF1 and C5.
"We were thrilled to find out that TRAF1-C5 showed association not only in the samples that we did but also independently in the Swedish group.
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Mixing plant extracts for treatments could be harmful
London, Oct 5 - Scientists in Britain have warned that treatment of individual health problems by mixing different combination of plant extracts could cause more harm then good to the patient. Herb practitioners in different parts of the world, including India, mix different combinations of plant extracts to treat ailments, including asthma and arthritis. The researchers looked at 1,300 published articles on the subject and analysed the only three found to be randomised clinical trials. These three trials investigated the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee (a knee joint disease), irritable bowel syndrome (a most common gastrointestinal disorder) and the relief of side effects caused by drug treatment for cancer, reported the online edition of Daily Mail. The researchers from Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, found that in two of the studies, there was no statistical difference in the results from tailored herbal medicine and a placebo, or dummy treatment.
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