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Degenerative
Arthritis
Degenerative arthritis or osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis
that is a result of a breakdown as well as eventual loss of the
cartilage of one or more joints. It is the most common of the
more than 100 different types of arthritis conditions, and is
believed to affect more than twenty million Americans and
occurs with advancing age.
Degenerative arthritis, it is believed, occurs most often in
males that are below the age of forty-five and is more
prevalent among females that are older than fifty-five years of
age. There does not seem to be any racial bias when it comes to
Americans though there are higher incidences among Japanese
while East Indians, Southern African blacks as well as Southern
Chinese have lower rates.
Affects Hands, Feet, Spine As Well As Hips And Knees
Degenerative arthritis is known to affect the hands, feet,
spine as well as large weight-bearing joints like the hips and
knees though there does not seem to be any known cause, and
when the cause is known, the condition is referred to as
secondary osteoarthritis. Nevertheless, age is certainly a
contributory factor to causing degenerative arthritis since the
water content of the cartilage increases while the protein
makeup degenerates. In advanced cases, there can be a total
loss of cartilage cushion between joints and bone which causes
friction between the bones causing severe pain as well as
limiting joint mobility.
There is always weight reduction as well as avoidance of
activities requiring excessive stress that will help to halt
cartilage degeneration. However, there is no specific treatment
that can halt degeneration of the cartilage or repair damaged
cartilage even though the goal of treating degenerative
arthritis is to reduce joint pains and inflammation, and at the
same time, maintains joint function.
Resting sore joints will lessen stress on the joints and
provide relief from swelling as well as pain, and patients may
be recommended to decrease the intensity as well as frequency
of all activities that result in joint pain consistently. Also,
degenerative arthritis is not known to be aggravated by
exercise, especially if performed at levels that do not result
in joint pain.
Such a condition may also warrant the services of a physical
therapist that can provide support devices like splints,
walkers, canes as well as braces, which are all helpful in
reducing stress on the joints. Surgery may only be necessary
when patients with degenerative arthritis have a severe
condition and are unresponsive to conservative treatments.
The future will surely bring with it medications to protect the
cartilage from the deteriorating consequence of degenerative
arthritis. There are also new treatments such as
anti-inflammatory lotions being studied to provide relief of
the pain from such a condition.
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