Archive for the ‘About Knee Osteoarthritis’ Category
Knee Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis in also known as Degenerative Joint Disease. Symptoms can include inflammation, stiffness, locking, tenderness, and joint pain. There are several common causes – mechanical knee problems, metabolic issues, heredity, and developmental pathologies may all lead to cartilage loss. Regardless of the cause, when bone surfaces become vulnerable due to cartilage loss the exposed bone can be damaged. Joint pain can lead to decreased movement which can lead muscles to atrophy and laxity in the ligaments.
Joint Pain
It might be arthritis if you have the following symptoms and signs:
1. Joint Pain: Does your knee hurt?
2. Joint Swelling: Is your knee red, warm, and inflamed?
3. Loss of Range of Motion: Can you fully bend and extend your knee?
4. Crepitus: Does your knee crack when you bend it?
Arthritic Knee
Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent kind of arthritis.
What are the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis?
The knee pain associated with OA generally takes time to develop. The knee joint can become swollen and stiff so you might have trouble straitening and bending your knee. Symptoms are usually worse in the morning and pain may increase following weight-bearing activities like going up and down stairs, walking, or kneeling.
Your knee joint may feel weak, lock, or buckle.
Knee Arthritis
Joint pain is a major complaint of people who suffer from arthritis. Arthritis is when one or more of your joints become inflamed.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. This is wear-and-tear arthritis, usually taking years to develop. It is the mechanical break down of cartilage in your joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis may affect more than joints. Rheumatoid can also attack tissues and organs. This type of arthritis has to do with your immune system, and the way your body produces and removes cartilage cells.
Psoriatic Arthritis usually is found in patients with psoriasis. Often the arthritis and the skin condition get worse or better at the same time. Pitting in the finger and toe nails is common.
It is important that your joint pain symptoms be properly diagnosed. With so many different kinds of arthritis it is imperative that you know exactly what you are dealing with. There are many treatment options available to relieve your knee pain. Make sure you choose the right one for you.
depression
Depression usually isn’t associated with knee osteoarthritis. But since osteoarthritis can limit people physically, the disease can restrict people’s lives. This can lead to depression.
Researchers have shown that certain factors exist that can predict the severity of depression in patients suffering with knee OA. Some of the predictors are:
- level of pain
- limited social contacts
- physical limitations
- age
- being overweight
To help curb the onset of depression make sure your treatment plan is comprehensive. Control your weight, manage your pain, and avoid social isolation. Don’t be afraid to discuss how OA is affecting your social life with your doctor. It is important!
Knee Anatomy
“The underpinnings of research about a degenerative disease like osteoarthritis should take into account the bone, cartilage, ligaments, nerves, and circulating chemicals and how these components collectively work together to affect the function of the knee.” Said Dr. Fred Nelson of Detroit’s Henry Ford’s Osteoarthritis Center.
Knees need to be thought of as an organ, and the medical community needs to remember that the anatomy surrounding the knee joint will also be affected by osteoarthritis. Hopefully considering the knee in this regard will lead to improve treatment options for osteoarthritis.
This thought process evolved from Scientists working with post-stroke patients. Researchers discovered that over 50% of patients who survived a stroke that take part in physical therapy program improved their ability to walk.
If you’re not keen on surgeries but are seeking relief from osteoarthritis pain, particularly in your knees, supplements have proven helpful in alleviating pain. One such supplement is Cosamin ASU. Cosamin ASU is a formula that combines NMX1000 avocado and soybean unsaponifiables (ASU) with glucosamine and sodium chondoritin sulfate.
If the information in the above paragraph just sounds like medical mumbo-jumbo, let me break it down further. ASU is a potent ingredient that protects cartilage which is crucial to healthy joints. Combined with the glucosamine and sodium chondoritin sulfate, the supplement helps slow down the deterioration of cartilage in joints. To put it as simply as possible, these supplements knee joint will make walking, running, and other activities a lot more bearable.
Flat Feet
Arthritis Care and Research recently published findings that elderly patients with flat feet have more knee pain on most days as compared to patients with higher arches.
The article indicates that flat feet may make knee osteoarthritis pain worse.
Douglas Gross was the lead researcher on the publication. He said, “When your feet flatten, it can change your posture or the way you move. One consequence may be that when a person puts weight on a flat foot the lower leg rotates inward – which over time could damage the cartilage at the inner knee.”
Custom foot orthotics may be an option, but more research has to be done.
Buying gifts for friends and family is something we do all year long. If you’re anything like me then you have a long list of people to shop for. Dealing with the traffic and the crowds at the mall probably don’t have you looking forward to it. Luckily, lower shipping costs and faster delivery times have finally made online shopping a reality for people around the world. High quality pain relief products are no exception.
If you have someone in your life who suffers from osteoarthritis in the knees then you know how painful their day to day lives can become. From the simple act of getting out of bed to walking across a room, the simplest tasks take on a new challenge. Arthritis pain can be oppressive, and can cause us to become sedentary or withdrawn. You can help your loved ones escape the cycle of arthritis pain with a supportive knee brace designed to relieve the pain and discomfort associated with knee arthritis. Give a gift that says you really care this holiday season and they’ll thank you for it.
Osteoarthritis Gene
Brussels, Belgium – A study was presented at the World Congress on Osteoarthritis this week. 1154 participants were monitored for 11 years in North Carolina to see if and when their knees were effected by osteoarthritis, and then how quickly the disease advanced. This study was called the, “Johnston County OSteoarthritis Project”.
Scientists isolated nine genes associated with the progression of knee osteoarthritis. IL-1 (Interleukin-1) is a chemical marker associated with cartilage degradation and inflammation.
Dr. Joanne Jordan is the director of the University of North Carolina’s Thurston Arthritis Research Center and lead author of the study. She said, “This might make it possible to identify high-risk people in advance of getting OA or before it progresses.