Background

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of joint disease that results from the breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone. The main symptoms of OA are pain, stiffness and loss of function in the affected joint which all develop over time. Within the UK OA is the most common type of arthritis and is thought to affect a third of people aged 45 or over (8.75 million people). In the US osteoarthritis affects approximately 27 million. The most common kind is knee OA. The odds of developing knee arthritis are seven times higher in overweight/obese persons than in people of normal weight

Current treatments for OA are symptomatic therapies that aim to provide pain relief and improve function as well