Arthritis - treating the cause

Pain caused by arthritis can be treated by a multitude of methods, including pain killers, physical therapy and various alternative treatments, but the cause, the degenerated cartilage, has been considered to be untreatable. Often there was no alternative to surgical intervention.

Today, the new MBST® Magnetic Resonance Therapy is a distinct alternative. MBST® now offers the possibility to stimulate the regenerative capacities of the damaged cartilage and to permanently enhance the functionality of the joint without surgery. For more information on the working principle of MBST® therapy, please see our explanation.

The evidence

A Cochrane collaboration review in 2002 into the effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields for the treatment of osteoarthritis identified improvements in pain scores in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. MBST® therapy takes this technology one step further, combining 12 separately controlled and independent coil systems (part orthogonally arranged) to produce a three-dimensional treatment field.

Preclinical studies have demonstrated significant effects on cartilage and fibroblast proliferation upon treatment with MBST®. In a recent randomized, double blind trial on human chondrocytes and osteoblasts, Temiz Artmann et al. demonstrated that following 9 hours of MBST treatment, cell proliferation rates were increased with no increase in apoptosis or shortening of cell life spans. A more recent study by the same group (as yet unpublished) demonstrated a significant increase in fibroblast protein synthesis following 12 hours of MBST® treatment when compared to a control group treated with a static magnetic field.

A number of centers have reported encouraging results using MBST® therapy in patients suffering from arthritis. Breitgraf and Krösche presented their findings from 30 patients at the German Orthopaedics Conference in Wiesbaden in 2000, reporting significant improvements in all measured pain and functional parameters for up to three months following treatment. Melzer and Auerbach reported similar positive results in patients with arthritis of the knee joint for up to 6 months following therapy at the German Orthopaedics Conference in 2003 in Berlin.

In the first study to investigate the effect of MBST therapy on cartilage structures in human subjects, Froböse et al. quantified the changes in cartilage following treatment with MBST using MRI imaging. In the 14 patients studied, there was a significant increase in the thickness and volume of cartilage on the patella and tibia seen 3 months following treatment.

A recent double blind, randomised controlled trial investigated the use of MBST® therapy in osteoarthritis of the finger joints. The treatment resulted in sig­nificant improvement in the physical function of the hand (QUABA score) after 9 days MBST® which persisted after 6 months. Conversely, these functions deteriorated in the placebo group. Similar results were observed for intensity and frequency of pain.

A number of studies, including more randomised controlled trials, are underway in order to further evaluate the efficacy of MBST® magnetic resonance therapy.

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