The very reason The Parker Institute exists is to research in common diseases of the locomotor system
In recent years the possibilities of treating rheumatoid arthritis have increased by way of the new biologic medicines. This is an example of how knowledge at a very detailed level – atoms and molecules – provides information which enables researchers to develop new treatments.
Researchers should also develop treatments for damage already done. E.g. a way of helping overweight people with knee osteoarthritis is to help them lose weight. It only takes a look around to see that eating less and exercising more is not something you just do.We wish to develop programs for losing weight and not least keeping the new and lower body weight. And speaking of exercise it is important to find out which kind of exercise is the more efficient.
The possibilities for treating fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions are still not satisfying. Medical science has a lot to find out: why do these patients have a lower pain threshold than others, and what determines who might be affected by these poorly understood diseases. Investigation is needed, both at muscular and cerebral levels.
Even though research - ours included - often displays vast arrays of machinery and laboratories, we are still inspired by our patients and their diseases.
Image diagnostics – MRI and ultrasound
The muscle laboratory
The connective tissue laboratory
The movement laboratory