Osteoarthritis - A Degenerative Joint Ailment

Osteoarthritis like diabetes is a chronic dysfunction. If not treated it can become quite dangerous, and then it is termed as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease. Osteoarthritis occurs when cartilage - a vital bone tissue -- gets disconnected. It is this cartilage that acts as the grease between the bone joints. When cartilage -- owing to osteoarthritis -- disappears, the bones become stiff. Under such abnormal circumstances whenever the bones rub one feels acute pain.

You would be surprised to know that there are more than 100 types of osteoarthritis. The most common one is osteoarthritis, or OA as explained above. The next in line according to the number of people affected is Rheumatoid Arthritis or RA. In this case, some lacunae in the immune system causes inflammation of the bone joints. Such a syndrome usually begins in the lining of the joints called the synovium. With time, RA damages the bone as well as the cartilage. Importantly, RA strikes both the sexes although it is more common among the womenfolk. RA affects similar joints and that too on the patients' both sides. Rheumatoid arthritis often affects the same joints on both sides of the body.

Mentionably, chronic and acute osteoarthritis are different from each other. The chronic state continues for years on end or may even continue for a person's lifetime. There is still no unanimity as to the exact causes of osteoarthritis, and hence there is still to evolve a precise treatment method for this disability disease.

The best means to control osteoarthritis is to follow the doctor's advice and strictly follow the prescribed regimen. Such a systematic lifestyle can definitely lessen the painful stress. First start monitoring the osteoarthritis symptoms. Then, discuss the signs with your physician and immediately make him aware of the new symptoms that may appear. Heredity can also be a main cause of the disease. At times, several of these symptoms may come together to cause osteoarthritis. Check obesity and regulate your weight to control osteoarthritis. Too much of physical weight puts unwarranted load on the cartilage and joints. Usually, our knee and hip joints carry the lion's share of our weight. Ensure that you do not put that extra load on these sensitive but very useful tissues called cartilage.

The reason why osteoarthritis generally happens with reference to the sportspersons is that they tend to put too much of pressure on particular parts of their bones and joints. This is exactly the reason why many players have to undergo repeated operation of the same portion of their joints over and over again. Hence never overuse the joints, otherwise there may be frequent breakdown of the cartilage. Moreover, repeated surgeries on particular joint parts can not only be expensive and a painful experience but can also weaken those affected portions.