Osteochondritis Dissecans

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 25, 2024 -- In a finding that suggests Ozempic and Wegovy have powers that extend beyond weight loss, a new study finds the medications might also lower people’s risk of opioid overdose . People with type 2 diabetes prescribed semaglutide ( Ozempic , Wegovy) had a significantly lower risk of an opioid OD than patients taking any of eight other diabetic medications, researchers found. The results show “semaglutide as a possible new treatment for combating this terrible [opioid] epidemic,” said lead researcher Rong Xu , a biomedical informatics professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. For the study, researchers analyzed six years of medical data for nearly 33,000 patients with opioid use disorder who also had type 2 diabetes. The data found that those prescribed semaglutide were less likely to suffer from an opioid overdose. The new study was published Sept. 25 in the journal JAMA Network Open . If this effect is confirmed in clinical trials, semaglutide could provide a new means of protecting people suffering from opioid addiction, Xu said in a university news release. About 107,500 people died from drug ODs in 2023 in the United States, mainly from opioids, researchers said in background notes. About 72% of drug ODs involve opioids. Only about a quarter of people with opioid addiction are taking effective medicines to prevent overdoses, and half discontinue treatment within six months, researchers said. “Not everyone receives or responds to them,” Xu said. “As a result, alternative medications to help people treat opioid use disorder and prevent overdosing are crucial.” Dr. Sandeep Kapoor is vice president of emergency medicine addiction services at Northwell and is based in New Hyde Park, N.Y. He wasn't involved in the new study. However, he called its findings preliminary but "extremely promising." According to Kapoor, it makes sense that medications such as Ozempic curb opioid overuse, because the drugs target the brain's dopamine reward system to help folks lose weight. That's "the same system that's activated when we drink, when there's utilization of drugs," he explained. Kapoor said it's encouraging "to see a study come out where a medication that has been widely used over the last few years to help folks with type 2 diabetes, as well as with obesity, potentially play a role in decreasing opioid overdoses. It's actually a very exhilarating and innovative approach that we should investigate further." Still, he noted that semaglutide has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help treat opioid use disorder. Nevertheless, the study "does legitimize the need to find better treatment alternatives for individuals that are either dealing with an opioid use disorder or at risk of an opioid use disorder," he added. Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

CHICAGO, Nov. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Youth baseball players are prone to elbow pain and injuries, including repetitive overuse changes and fractures, based on the maturity of their bones, according to a new study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The repetitive motion and force of throwing a baseball places a large amount of stress on the growing bones, joints and muscles of the elbows of baseball players. Youth baseball players who have not yet reached skeletal maturity might be especially vulnerable to elbow pain and injuries. "When we look at the forces that baseball players, even Little League baseball players, deal with during routine practice and games, it becomes apparent why elbow injuries are so common amongst this group," said study co-author Vandan Patel, B.S., a radiology-orthopedics research scholar at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Pennsylvania. Most recent estimates show that 20 to 40% of youth baseball players between the ages of nine and 12 complain of elbow pain at least once during the season. Skeletally immature children have growth plates, which are areas of bone that are made up of cartilage, a rubbery and flexible connective tissue, that allows the bones to grow and change in shape as a child ages. Growth plates are weaker than the surrounding muscles and bones and prone to injury that can lead to either reversible changes or permanent deformity. Skeletal maturity occurs when the growth plates have closed, and no more bone (or growth) is being made. This usually occurs at the end of puberty, typically around age 13 to 15 for girls and 15 to 17 for boys. In this retrospective study, the researchers reviewed elbow MRI exams from 130 youth players (18 years of age and younger) being evaluated for elbow pain. MRI is an ideal method for identifying joint problems, because it can non-invasively show cross-sectional details of soft tissues (cartilage, tendons and ligaments) and bone. "We conducted this study in order to better understand the patterns of injuries that can occur among youth baseball players with elbow pain," said senior author Jie C. Nguyen, M.D., M.S., director for the Section of Musculoskeletal Imaging in the Department of Radiology at CHOP. "Tissue vulnerability and, thus, sites at risk for injury, change with growth and maturation. A younger player injures differently than an older player. It is our hope that this data will help us continue to improve and individualize the care of current and future generations of youth baseball players." The average age of this study group of patients was 13.9 years, with 115 boys and 15 girls included. The frequency with which the patients played baseball varied from daily to recreationally. Two radiologists independently reviewed the MRI exams to categorize the skeletal maturity and different findings of each patient's elbow. They classified 85 patients as skeletally mature and 45 patients as skeletally immature. The most common MRI findings in skeletally immature players included fluid build-up around the joint, stress injuries near the growth plate, fractures, and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) lesions, where a piece of bone and the overlying cartilage is injured and can detach, leading to reduced range of motion and risk for premature osteoarthritis in adulthood. Conversely, in skeletally mature players, the injury pattern shifts from the growth plates to the soft tissue. These players most often had triceps tendinosis—a condition in which the tendon connecting the triceps muscle to the elbow bone becomes strained, irritated or torn—and fluid build-up in the bony area of the elbow where the ulnar collateral ligament attaches. The ulnar collateral ligament runs on the inner side of the elbow and helps stabilize it. Injuries that required surgery included intra-articular bodies (small fragments inside the joint), and unstable OCD. "In terms of the skeletally immature children, 9 patients (11%) had intra-articular bodies, and 19 patients (22%) had OCD lesions," Patel said. The researchers hope that the results of this study will help to identify elbow injuries in children who play baseball and to individualize treatment based on skeletal maturity. "This information is critically important not only to physicians, but also to parents and team coaches, all of whom provide crucial support for these children, reducing injury and preventing permanent damage on and off the field," said co-author Theodore J. Ganley, M.D., director of Sports Medicine and Performance Center in the Division of Orthopaedics at CHOP. "As parents, caregivers and coaches, it is important to be aware of these findings in order to ensure that symptoms of pain are not overlooked during the baseball season." Although they did find that prevalence of injury was linked to prolonged play, the researchers said further studies are needed to identify exactly which injuries are more time dependent compared to others. "This does not mean that elbow injuries are inevitable in baseball," Patel said. "With proper technique and proper rest, these injuries could potentially be avoided." Additional co-authors are Shahwar M. Tariq, B.S., Liya Gendler, D.O., Apurva S. Shah, M.D., M.B.A., and Adam C. Zoga, M.D., M.B.A. Note: Copies of RSNA 2023 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press23. RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org) Editor's note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA Newsroom at 1-312-791-6610. For patient-friendly information on pediatric and musculoskeletal imaging, visit RadiologyInfo.org. SOURCE Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)

Ice Age saber-tooth cats and dire wolves experienced a high incidence of bone disease in their joints, according to new research. Ice Age saber-tooth cats and dire wolves experienced a high incidence of bone disease in their joints, according to a study published July 12, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Hugo Schmökel of Evidensia Academy, Sweden and colleagues. Osteochondrosis is a developmental bone disease known to affect the joints of vertebrates, including humans and various domesticated species. However, the disease is not documented thoroughly in wild species, and published cases are quite rare. In this study, Schmökel and colleagues identify signs of this disease in fossil limb bones of Ice Age saber-tooth cats (Smilodon fatalis) and dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus) from around 55,000 to 12,000 years ago. Researchers examined over 1,000 limb bones of saber-tooth cats and over 500 limb bones of dire wolves from the Late Pleistocene La Brea Tar Pits, finding small defects in many bones consistent with a specific manifestation of bone disease called osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD). These defects were mainly seen in shoulder and knee joints, with an incidence as high as 7% of the examined bones, significantly higher than that observed in modern species. This study is limited to isolated bones from a single fossil locality, so further study on other fossil sites might reveal patterns in the prevalence of this disease, and from there might shed light on aspects of these animals' lives. It remains unclear, for example, whether these joint problems would have hindered the hunting abilities of these predators. Furthermore, OCD is commonly seen in modern domestic dogs which are highly inbred, so it's possible that the high incidence of the disease in these fossil animals could be a sign of dwindling populations as these ancient species approached extinction. The authors add: "This study adds to the growing literature on Smilodon and dire wolf paleopathology, made possible by the unparalleled large sample sizes at the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum. This collaboration between paleontologists and veterinarians confirms that these animals, though they were large predators that lived through tough times and are now extinct, shared common ailments with the cats and dogs in our very homes today."