Arthritis isn't always from the wear and tear of getting older — younger adults too often get it after suffering knee or ankle injuries. University of Iowa scientists used pigs to mimic the cascade of cartilage damage that can begin with a broken ankle. But about 5.6 million people in the U.S. get a subtype that strikes faster — post-traumatic osteoarthritis that's sparked by injuries to weight-bearing joints. Somehow, the joint injury triggered the mitochondria inside cartilage cells to become wildly overactive and generate substances called oxidants in a damaging cycle. They injected one or the other drug into the pigs' joint fractures, following the injury and a week later.

Source: ABC News February 07, 2018 19:46 UTC