More About Degenerative Arthritis
Osteoarthritis, which is a type of arthritis is also known as degenerative arthritis and is the result of the wearing off of cartilage in one or more joints. The bones and joints are cushioned by a thick connective tissue known as the cartilage which protects them as well as helps not to rub against each other.
According to the data present more than 20 million Americans suffer from degenerative arthritis. It is also possible, according to the experts that this number will double or triple in the coming ten years when the baby boomers of today become older.
Degenerative arthritis tends to occur as we age. It affects more men before the age of 45, and more women after the age of 55. It occurs more frequently in females and in the U.S. all races are equally affected.
Degenerative arthritis in most cases strikes the feet, spine, hands as well as huge joints like knees and hips which bear weight.
Degenerative arthritis is divided into two main kinds, secondary and primary. One is more likely to get primary degenerative arthritis when the age increases and the cartilage starts wearing off. As it is seen in many people the condition is very serious as the cartilage breaks down completely resulting in rubbing between the bones which leads to inflammation, joint pain and swelling.
An individual can suffer from secondary degenerative arthritis as the consequence of some other medical condition like diabetes, gout or hormone disturbances. It is also possible to get degenerative arthritis if a person is overweight has had a number of surgeries or has some congenital abnormality.
It is only the joints and no other part of the body is affected by degenerative arthritis. When there is pain in the joint with redness and inflammation, there are chances that you are suffering from degenerative arthritis.
As a matter of fact signs of degenerative arthritis may differ from person to person and some may get incapacitated by the symptoms and others may not suffer as much. It is possible that you get the symptoms daily or once in a while.
As per now no particular treatment for degenerative arthritis has been found. There are some things which can give relief to people like weight loss, rest, exercise, some medicines as well as different types of therapy. There are different ways of taking medicines. You can apply it, take it orally or even take shots if the pain and inflammation becomes very severe.