Blood Protein May Prevent, Cure Arthritis

British scientists said Friday they may be on the verge of a major breakthrough in the fight against arthritis, one of the world’s most common crippling diseases.

“We think we have found a naturally occurring material which prevents and cures rheumatoid arthritis,” said Professor Ian Silver, head of Bristol University’s department of pathology and microbiology.

Trials are being conducted on humans following successful tests on laboratory animals.

Silver said “heat-shock” proteins, obtained from heated blood plasma or from the blood of burn patients, were injected into animals. Ways are now being sought to produce the proteins artificially.

“It looks extremely hopeful,” Silver said, adding a cure could be achieved within a year or two.