Perspectives on the future of bone and joint diseases

The diseases of bones, joints, and muscles are common, chronic, and very costly to society. While the impact of these diseases falls across the age spectrum, the worldwide growth in the percentage of elderly in the population makes attention to musculoskeletal disorders and conditions particularly critical. An effective prevention strategy, driven by an understanding of the fundamental biology of bone and connective tissue, can only result from an upshift in the efforts of many sectors--public and private, academic, scientific, and patient-based--with new opportunities for partnerships and collaborative efforts flourishing. The Decade of the Bone and Joint can serve as a catalyst in this effort. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are pleased to join with other national and international organizations to promote new activities and initiatives during the next decade. The NIH Osteoarthritis Initiative is highlighted as an example of a public-private partnership to develop resources and information on the natural history of the disease process that can drive new clinical intervention studies in osteoarthritis. Hopefully, this initiative and others will pave the way for important, scientifically driven prevention strategies during the next decade.