The patients suffering from osteoarthritis will be relieved at the news that there can be a way to treat this problem. Presently, there is no specific treatment for this disease and people generally take pain killers to alleviate the pain. The surgeries only include hip and knee replacement.

The scientists in Britain expect to develop a stem cell therapy to cure osteoarthritis. It will then be subjected to human trials.

The first trial would be conducted by the scientists of University of Keele on 70 osteoarthritis patients of Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Shropshire, later this year.

Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis characterized by gradual loss of cartilage of the joints, usually affecting people after middle age. It causes intolerable pain and stiffness. The cartilage can become too thin, that can result in deformation of bones.

The question is how the stem cell therapy works?

The stem cells are taken away from patient's bone marrow with the help of keyhole surgery and are kept for three months in a lab, so that they can grow. Then, they are infused into the joints of the patients, which help in forming a new cartilage, relieving the patient.

The use of therapy will be confirmed after its trials on humans.