Medical Breakthroughs: Stay Mobile

Gaming For Dexterity

A new product aims to reduce the tedium of physical rehabilitation through gaming. Stroke patients can use the Rapael Smart Glove to play more than 45 games, each targeting a goal, such as wrist motion or finger dexterity. —Denny Watkins

What's Ahead For Arthritis?

"For the first time in human history, we’re at a moment where we see an opportunity to nip the disease mechanism in the bud," Guy Eakin, senior vice president, scientific strategy, Arthritis Foundation, tells AARP. "A big breakthrough is medicinal signaling cell (MSC) treatments. Literature shows that injected MSCs may be able to reduce inflammation, assisting in cartilage repair." Eakin warns that "some clinics that advertise 'stem cell therapies' should be viewed as experimental treatments and may not help many patients." 

Another promising breakthrough will benefit anyone who has an ACL — anterior cruciate ligament — injury. Those with ACL injuries have a 50 percent risk for developing osteoarthritis in that knee. "We have just discovered that there is a window of a few days when therapy in the form of injectable therapeutic drugs may be possible and would dramatically reduce that risk. That’s huge for future disease prevention," Eakin said.

If everything falls into place, in five to 10 years researchers could be able to put all these new technologies and treatments together. "Say you have hip osteoarthritis. A mesh will be developed that will fit on your femur. That mesh would be impregnated with stem cells to grow cartilage perfectly customized to the shape of your bone," Eakin said. "If you develop signs of osteoarthritis down the road, we could even deliver a drug that could induce that cartilage to produce its own anti-inflammatory molecules, so you could fend off your own disease development." —Selene Yeager

Muscle Changes Key

Contrary to what experts used to think, our muscles do not drastically shrink with age, Luigi Ferrucci, M.D., scientific director, National Institute on Aging, tells AARP. "They do a little, but that doesn’t cause us to lose strength. It’s that the muscles that remain cannot generate strength because of energy-producing decline. That’s why exercise is so powerful. It is the only intervention that improves mitochondrial function. Evidence now shows that even walking 10 minutes a day has enormous benefit."

Diet is also extremely important, Ferrucci said. "You will eat 70 tons of food in your lifetime. Over years, that has an impact on your health. The Mediterranean diet — a heart-healthy way of eating that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, olive oil and fish — is the only nutritional intervention that shows clear evidence that it not only prevents cardiovascular disease but also slows the decline of mobility and prevents disability." —Selene Yeager

REMIE GEOFFROI

Insoles for balance 

Aging, diabetes and nerve damage dull sensors on the feet that keep you oriented. People in a Harvard study who used vibrating insoles — not yet on the market — did better on balance tests. —Sari Harrar