Osteoarthritis has always meant two choices: manage the pain or replace the joint. But a University of Colorado research team is working on a third option — and it’s a big one. Rally breaks down a new regenerative treatment that might actually heal joints from the inside out with the help of your body’s own cells, and what you can do right now while we wait for it.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
RALLY VO:
Hey there, Beautiful People!
Welcome back to the Silver Beast Podcast.
I’m Rally Preston — your 70-year-old podcaster who creaks and groans more than a haunted house.
So today I want to talk about something that hits close to home for me. And that’s: Osteoarthritis.
Yeah, not the most uplifting topic…but there’s something pretty exciting on the horizon about osteoarthritis…you’re gonna want to hear this I think.
But that can wai…let’s talk about me first!
So I’ve got osteoarthritis in my right shoulder.
I think it started when I got banged up playing “touch” football in college. I got touched pretty hard, and crunched the shoulder.
Then later in life, when I was older and wiser, I tried snowboarding…What was I thinking? I don’t know. Anyway, banged it up real good again.
Now, well, I just gotta deal with it.
So if you’ve got osteoarthritis in a knee, a hip, your hands, your shoulder — you know how bad this sucks – excuse my language.
Now for the lucky people who have absolutely no clue what I’m talking about right now — let me fill you in…
So inside your joints, you’ve got this spongy padding called cartilage.
It’s the stuff that keeps your bones from grinding together.
When that wears down — that’s osteoarthritis.
Now here’s the fun part: it causes a deep, grinding ache that just parks itself in your joint and stays there.
The kind that wakes you up at night when you roll over the wrong way.
And it makes you think twice before moving too fast.
It can stiffen you up so bad in the morning, you groan all the way to the kitchen like you’re a hundred and ninety-seven years old.
So I looked this up: osteoarthritis is the third most common disease in the US. One in six people over 30 has it. So odds are, you, or someone you love, is dealing with this right now.
And here’s the really frustrating part… at least for me…
It doesn’t just hurt. It shrinks your world, right?
Things you used to do without a thought — like gardening, playing golf, picking up a grandkid — suddenly you’ve got a tough decision to make, right?
Like, okay, if I do this now… I’m gonna pay for it later.
And here’s the part that’s really discouraging.
The options you have to do something about osteoarthritis…
So there are basically two…
Behind Door Number One we have: You can try and manage the pain.
So medication of some kind. Pop a pill and try to live with it. Or a steroid shot – I tried a couple of those, didn’t really help me.
And then we have, Door Number Two: And that’s where you get the joint replaced. Which is a big surgery. Long recovery.
That’s about it. Those are your choices. Pain management or major surgery. Yeah, not great options.
Well fairly soon, there may be …one more.
Emphasis on the may be part.
Seems promising so far…but at this point, you’ve still got to cross your fingers.
Let me tell you about it…
So a research team out of the University of Colorado — have come up with something new.
They’re calling it a regenerative injection.
Here’s the basic idea…
Instead of just masking the pain, or replacing the joint, this new treatment would actually tell your body… to fix the joint itself.
So what they came up with is a tiny particle delivery system.
Think of it like…a little time-release capsule.
It’s injected directly into the joint…
…and it slowly releases a drug…
— and by the way, this drug is already FDA-approved but just being used in a new way now —
…and that drug basically wakes up your body’s own repair cells and tells them to get to work…fix this joint.
All with just one shot.
And for tougher cases, they use engineered proteins.
Same basic idea but done arthroscopically – so a small incision there – but this one actually fills up holes in the cartilage and bone. Again, it recruits your body’s own cells. It should be quick too, probably done on an outpatient basis.
So here’s what happened so far in their animal studies: the treated joints returned to a healthy state in four to eight weeks.
Four to eight weeks!
Now — and this is important — these were studies done on some of our furry friends with osteoarthritis.
Not on humans yet.
But – so far, so good.
This research is backed by $33.5 million from the government.
The funding program is called ARPA-H — they put money into high-risk, high-reward research to solve challenging problems.
So they’re obviously pushing this new osteoarthritis treatment pretty hard.
They funded phase one. The team delivered. So now they’re moving on to phase two.
And as far as human clinical trials, those are penciled in for late 2027 as of right now.
So here’s the company behind this…and you might want to jot it down…
The company’s called Renovare Therapeutics. They’re based in Boulder, and their whole mission — their words here — is not just to treat the pain, but to end the disease of osteoarthritis.
So if their human trials succeed… obviously, this would be a big deal.
Okay. So what can we do in the meantime? Trials on humans don’t start until 2027.
Well, in the meantime, I’ve got a few suggestions here for you…
Number one: Keep moving your joints. I know, said it before — but movement really is one of the best things you can do for arthritic joints right now. Keep it low impact. Walking. Swimming. Water aerobics. Some gentle stretching. The research is clear on this one — sitting still actually makes it worse. You gotta keep those stubborn joints working, even if they complain about. Keep them moving best you can.
Number two: Have a real conversation with your doctor about where things stand with your osteoarthritis.
Not just “yeah my knee hurts sometimes…”
Actually say: “Hey, I’ve got osteoarthritis, what stage is it in? Are there newer options I should know about? What should I be doing right now to preserve this joint?”
And keep this in mind too…
…when Renovare clinical trials open up, they’re going to need participants. Now, I have no idea where they’re getting them from. But if you’ve got a good picture of your own health and you’re already engaged with your doctors, there might be a chance you could be a part of these. Pure speculation on my part…but who knows? We’ll see.
And you might want to ask your doctor to keep you in the loop on this.
Mention ARPA-H.
And Arpa h’s specific program for this one is called: NITRO.
That’s N-I-T-R-O.
Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis.
Or maybe just stick with NITRO…that’ll work.
Alright, the third suggestion for you: Stay informed.
Again, keep your eye on Renovare Therapeutics — that’s the commercial entity behind this new treatment — R-E-N-O-V-A-R-E. They’re online. Follow what they’re up to. When trials open, I assume they’ll announce that. And just to be clear, I have absolutely no relationship with this company…just wanted to pass this one along to you because it’s really encouraging to me.
Alright. You know, I’ve always thought of my bad shoulder as just…part of the deal. Getting banged up, getting older, things wearing out…you know, welcome to life.
But I gotta say, this new research is exciting. Finally, osteoarthritis, the disease – its days may really be numbered.
Keep your fingers crossed, and keep your eye on Renovare Therapeutics.
And a quick sidenote from me: I’m not a doctor. Not giving medical advice here…just giving you a reason to hope with this new research. If you’re dealing with joint pain — talk to your doc.
Ok, hang tight, Silver Beasts. Looks like good things are in the works for osteoarthritis.
I’m Rally Preston. Thanks for spending some time with me today.
Keep moving those joints — and I’ll catch you next time right here on the Silver Beast Podcast.
Take care!