Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease characterized by damage to all articular structures. It is dangerous because in most cases it leads to deformation of the limb and the complete loss of its mobility. As noted above, the disease is common among the world's population: it is diagnosed in 15 percent of people. Moreover, despite the fact that medicine has progressed rapidly in recent years, this number remains virtually unchanged.
Possible causes
Why does osteoarthritis occur at all? Its symptoms, as we have already said, are mainly due to the cause of the disease. It most often occurs in older patients. According to doctors, the risk group is mainly women over forty years of age, prone to overweight. The more you weigh, the more likely it is that you will develop a pathology. By the way, its course is also directly dependent on body weight. Physiologically, this is understandable: osteoarthritis (whose symptoms, incidentally, include sharp pain) is usually caused by excessive stress on the joints. The most common form today is osteoarthritis of the knee joint of the 1st degree, since with obesity the entirethe weight is on the knees. In addition, factors such as improper metabolism and hormonal disruptions should not be overlooked.
Association of disease with age
Osteoarthritis is also often diagnosed in people over the age of 65. Its symptoms include manifestations such as constant pain, an unpleasant crunch in the joints, and even complete inability to move. In this case, the cause should be sought in changes in the articular structure due to age. Over time, the cartilage wears out, and can no longer be restored. Often, a regular walk entails an attack of pain. However, osteoarthritis also occurs among young people. In this case, the fault is hereditary predisposition or lack of intra-articular lubrication. Osteoarthritis, the symptoms and consequences of which are well known to some sportsmen, becomes an occupational pathology for them. By the way, in medicine it is customary to distinguish between its primary and secondary forms. One develops in the absence of other diseases, and the other is provoked by existing diseases.
Stages
How to treat osteoarthritis? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to find out at what stage it is at the moment. There are three of them in total. The first is characterized by a feeling of mild discomfort that occasionally occurs in the area of the affected joint, as well as pain that appears after excessive physical exertion, long walking and standing. In general, fatigue sets in rather quickly. The second stage occurs when the pain increases significantly and does not go away for several days. It is especially unbearable immediately after waking up - there is even a special term for this phenomenon - “starting pain”. Each movement at the same time causes serious difficulties for the patient and is accompanied by a characteristic crunch. Finally, the third stage is actually equated by specialists with disability. With it, it becomes impossible to walk, the joints are deformed beyond recognition and greatly increase in size. In this case, only replacement of the joint with a prosthesis can be called an adequate treatment.
