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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