There are two common forms of arthritis--osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Ostearthritis (OA), or degenerative joint disease (DJD), is a product of wear and tear of the joints. Normally, the end of each bone has a smooth layer of cartilage that acts like a shock absorber. It has no blood supply, and no nerves, so if you break it or if you put a crack on it, its ability to heal becomes limited. Then, as you grow older, you just sort of wear out the pad. You can wear it down almost completely and it won't hurt because it has no nerves.
But some of the tissue that's being worn off can cause an inflammation in the joint, so that the joint becomes hot and swollen. Fortunately, the inflammation can be treated with anti-inflammatories like aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil or Nuprin). However, the cartilage pad wears away. It's like having a bald tire. When the cartilage is gone, the bone starts rubbing on bone. And bones have nerves. Arthritis medicines can eliminate the swelling pretty much entirely but still leave you with about half of the pain.
Causes of Arthritis - OA is divided into two categories; primary and secondary. In primary OA, the degenerative "wear-and-tear" process occurs after a person turns 40. Secondary OA is associated with some predisposing factors including inherited abnormalities in the joint structure; trauma (fractures, surgery and other injuries to the joint); abnormal cartilage; previous inflammatory disease of joints, such rheumatoid arthritis and gout.
Signs and Symptoms of Ostearthritis - Morning joint stiffness is often the first symptom. As the disease progresses, there is pain on motion of the involved joint that is made worse by prolonged activity and relieved by rest. There are usually local tenderness, tissue swelling, joint cracking sounds, bone swelling, restricted mobility, and bony nodules. The weight-bearing joints of knees, hips, hands and spine are most often affected.
What can you do to retard the progress of the disease? - Formerly, physicians recommended rest, but now they say that inactivity actually causes ostearthritis. You should regularly exercise your joints by stretching them through their full range of motion. That's because the cartilage sitting on the ends of your bones is surrounded by a fluid that sends nutrients into the cartilage and removes waste. Without movement, the joint begins to starve and waste prodcts are trapped. The arthritis gets worse, pain is increased and range of motion becomes even more limited. With movement, doctors say, oxygen and nutrients work their way in, waste is removed and swelling and pain are reduced.
One of the most important dietary recommendation for people with arthritis is to achieve normal body weight. Being overweight means increasing stress on joints affected with OA. It is also highly important that the diet be rich in fruits, vegetables and essential fatty acids, especially omega-3 fatty acid.Nutritional supplements, such as Lyprinol, a patented extract from New Zealand green-lipped mussel (Perna Canaliculus) in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee are sold in many countries to relieve arthritic symptoms and to aid in the regeneration of arthritic and injured joints. Lyprinol treatment led to significant improvement of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis without adverse effects (in contrast to non-steroid anti-infalmmatory drugs, or NSAIDs, commonly precribed for treatment of osteoarthritis). After a 4- and 8-week treatment period, 80% of patients experienced significant pain relief, and improvement of joint function and were able to rely much less on anti-inflammatory drugs. The major fatty acids of New Zealand green-lipped mussel are DHA and EPA (67). Some medical experts believe that Lyprinol has much greater potency than plant or marine oils currently used as nutritional supplements to ameliorate signs of inflammation in people suffering from ostearthritis.
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