Osteoarthritis
Return to Library
What Is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a joint disease that mostly affects cartilage. Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. Healthy cartilage allows bones to glide over each other. It also helps absorb shock of movement. In osteoarthritis, the top layer of cartilage breaks down and wears away. This allows bones under the cartilage to rub together. The rubbing causes pain, swelling, and loss of motion of the joint. Over time, the joint may lose its normal shape. Also, bone spurs may grow on the edges of the joint. Bits of bone or cartilage can break off and float inside the joint space, which causes more pain and damage.
People with osteoarthritis often have joint pain and reduced motion. Unlike some other forms of arthritis, osteoarthritis affects only joints and not internal organs. Rheumatoid arthritis ? the second most common form of arthritis ? affects other parts of the body besides the joints. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis.
Who Gets Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis occurs most often in older people. Younger people sometimes get osteoarthritis primarily from joint injuries.
What Causes Osteoarthritis?
The cause of osteoarthritis is unknown. Factors that might cause it include:
* Being overweight
* Getting older
* Joint injury
* Joints that are not properly formed
* A genetic defect in joint cartilage
* Stresses on the joints from certain jobs and playing sports.
How Is Osteoarthritis Diagnosed?
Osteoarthritis can occur in any joint. It occurs most often in the hands, knees, hips, and spine.
Warning signs of osteoarthritis are:
* Stiffness in a joint after getting out of bed or sitting for a long time
* Swelling or tenderness in one or more joints
* A crunching feeling or the sound of bone rubbing on bone.
No single test can diagnose osteoarthritis. Most doctors use several methods to diagnose the disease and rule out other problems:
* Medical history
* Physical exam
* X rays
* Other tests such as blood tests or exams of the fluid in the joints.
How Is Osteoarthritis Treated?
Doctors often combine treatments to fit a patient?s needs, lifestyle, and health. Osteoarthritis treatment has four main goals:
* Improve joint function
* Keep a healthy body weight
* Control pain
* Achieve a healthy lifestyle.
Osteoarthritis treatment plans can involve:
* Exercise
* Weight control
* Rest and joint care
* Nondrug pain relief techniques to control pain
* Medicines
* Complementary and alternative therapies
* Surgery.
How Can Self-Care and a 'Good-Health Attitude' Help?
Three kinds of programs help people learn about osteoarthritis and self-care and improve their good-health attitude:
* Patient education programs
* Arthritis self-management programs
* Arthritis support groups.
These programs teach people about osteoarthritis and its treatments. They also have clear and long-lasting benefits. People in these programs learn to:
* Exercise and relax
* Talk with their doctor or other health care providers
* Solve problems.
People with osteoarthritis find that self-management programs help them:
* Understand the disease
* Reduce pain while staying active
* Cope with their body, mind, and emotions
* Have more control over the disease
* Live an active, independent life.
People with a good-health attitude:
* Focus on what they can do, not what they can?t do
* Focus on their strengths, not their weaknesses
* Break down activities into small tasks that are easy to manage
* Build fitness and healthy eating into their daily routines
* Develop ways to lower and manage stress
* Balance rest with activity
* Develop a support system of family, friends, and health care providers.
Source: National Institutes of Health
|
Free Osteoarthritis Articles |
|
|
|
|
Studies from Harvard University add new findings in the area of gene therapy
2009 AUG 24 - (NewsRx.com) -- New research, 'Progress and Prospects: genetic treatments for disorders of bones and joints,' is the subject of a report. According to a study from the United States, "Gene therapies directed toward the treatment of arthritis and tissue repair continue to be the most active areas of research for bone and joint diseases. In the past 2 years, two trials in rheumatoid arthritis have been completed. a Phase I study reporting safety and a Phase I/II study that has yet to be published." "An additional, small study has reported the first evidence of clinical efficacy. Two Phase I trials of gene therapy for osteoarthritis have also been initiated. There is much preclinical activity in developing AAV vectors for future trials in the gene therapy of arthritis. Research into tissue repair and regeneration remains at the preclinical stage, but a considerable volume of research attests to the promise of gene transfer in this arena, especially in the context of bone healing," wrote C.H. Evans and colleagues, Harvard University. The researchers concluded: "For tissue repair, the major research questions are still which genes to use and how best to deliver them." Evans and colleagues published the results of their research in Gene Therapy (Progress and Prospects: genetic treatments for disorders of bones and joints. Gene Therapy, 2009;16(8):944-52). For additional information, contact C.H. Evans, Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215 USA.. The publisher of the journal Gene Therapy can be contacted at: Nature Publishing Group, 345 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1707, USA. Keywords: United States, Boston, Arthritis, Biotechnology, Bone, Clinical Trial Research, Gene Therapy, Genetics, Genomics, Joint Disease, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Treatment. This article was prepared by Pain & Central Nervous System Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Pain & Central Nervous System Week via NewsRx.com.
|
