Meet the grandma gorilla receiving world-first medical treatment for arthritis
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Liesel is an important member of her group at the zoo
A grandma gorilla has been given a new medical treatment to help with her achy knees and joints in a medical world-first.
Liesel is 46 and lives in Budapest Zoo, where she's raised her three kids and 10 grandbaby-gorillas.
Her left leg has been causing her trouble and pain and her keepers suspected a condition called arthritis.
Scientists have helped Liesel by using something called 'stem cells' to treat her condition, in a first for gorillas around the world.
Let's meet Liesel the Gorilla
Liesel may not be super old by human standards, but by gorilla standards she is elderly. The oldest living gorilla is 65 years old but most have a life expectancy of around 40 years.
Budapest Zoo said she's "the oldest member of the five-person gorilla team, who has successfully raised three offspring since her arrival in 1989, and is now a grandmother 10 times over. Liesel was born in April 1977, so she is already 46 years old, which is quite old, since gorillas don't live that long in nature."
Her keepers noticed she was having difficulty walking on her left leg and suspected she may be suffering from osteoarthritis - a type of arthritis which is a condition that affects joints, making them painful and stiff.
She's to have been diagnosed with arthritis. Arthritis is animals (and humans) can make movement like walking painful.
Arthritis is a invisible condition that causes joints to become stiff and painful. There's different types of arthritis.
A joint is a connection where two bones meet and is covered in cartilage.
It affects humans too. 10 million people in the UK have some form of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. It mostly affects older people, but younger people can have osteoarthritis too.
Osteoarthritis often affects joints like fingers, thumbs, knees and hips.
(Arthritis Action Charity)
How are stem cells helping a gorilla?
Stem cells were injected into Liesel's joints
Scientists from Sheffield University teamed up with the zoo to treat Liesel's arthritis using something called 'stem cells'.
Stem cells are building block cells which can grow into any type of cell in the body.
The stem cells were donated from another, younger, gorilla called N'yaounda.
Scientists used N'yaounda's stem cells to help Liesel's arthritis and "improve her quality of life in her golden years."
We are now following her recovery closely, in the hope to see marked improvement in her movements.
Stem cells were used to help reduce the pain in Liesel's joints, this shows an X-ray of her knee
The stem cells were injected into her knees and hips in the hopes of regenerating the cartilage in her joints.
One of the scientists, Professor Mark Wilkinson said: "I was delighted to be part of the team doing this ground-breaking work and having the opportunity to treat Liesel's arthritis. We are currently developing a similar treatment for humans."
This type of stem cell treatment has been used to help dogs before, but Liesel is the first primate to receive this type of arthritis treatment.
The treatment for humans is in its early stages, but Liesel's world-first treatment could help hundreds of humans in the future with their arthritis pain.
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