Dr Dulcy gives advice on arthritis

SYMPTOMS OFTEN DEVELOP SLOWLY AND WORSEN OVER TIME Increased weight puts added stress on weight-bearing joints, like hips, knees.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. You get it when the cartilage on the ends of your bones in the joints wears down over time.

Although osteoarthritis can damage any joint in your body, the disorder most commonly affects joints in your hands, knees, hips and spine. The disease is irreversible but the symptoms can usually be effectively managed.

Eating healthily and exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and other treatments may slow progression of the disease and help improve pain and joint function. If you have joint pain or stiffness that doesn’t go away, make an appointment with your doctor.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that worsens over time. Joint pain and stiffness may become severe enough to make daily tasks difficult.

Symptoms

Osteoarthritis symptoms often develop slowly and worsen over time. Signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis include:

Pain. The joint may hurt during or after movement.

Tenderness. The joint may feel pain when you apply light pressure to it.

Stiffness. Joint stiffness may be most noticeable when you wake up in the morning or after a period of inactivity.

Loss of flexibility. You may not be able to move your joint through its full range of motion.

Grating sensation. You may hear or feel a grating sensation when you use the joint.

Bone spurs. These extra bits of bone, which feel like hard lumps, may form around the affected joint.

Causes

Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage that cushions the ends of bones in your joints gradually deteriorates. Cartilage is a firm, slippery tissue that permits nearly frictionless joint motion. In osteoarthritis, the surface that is normally smooth of the cartilage becomes rough. Eventually, if the cartilage wears down completely, you may be left with bone rubbing on bone.

Risk factors

Factors that may increase your risk of osteoarthritis include:

Older age. The risk of osteoarthritis increases with age.

Sex. Women are more likely to develop osteoarthritis, although it isn’t clear why.

Obesity. Carrying extra body weight contributes to osteoarthritis in several ways and the more you weigh, the greater your risk. Increased weight puts added stress on weight-bearing joints, such as your hips and knees. In addition, fat tissue produces proteins that may cause harmful inflammation in and around your joints.

Joint injuries. Injuries, such as those that occur when playing sports, or from an accident, may increase the risk of osteoarthritis. Even injuries that occurred many years ago and seemingly healed can increase your risk of osteoarthritis.

Certain occupations. If your job includes tasks that place repetitive stress on a particular joint, that joint may eventually develop osteoarthritis.

Genetics. Some people inherit a tendency to develop osteoarthritis.

Bone deformities. Some people are born with malformed joints or defective cartilage, which can increase the risk of osteoarthritis.

Diagnosis

During the physical exam, your doctor will closely examine your affected joint, checking for tenderness, swelling or redness, and for range of motion in the joint. Your doctor may also recommend imaging and lab tests.

Imaging tests Pictures of the affected joint can be obtained during imaging tests. Examples include:

X-rays. Cartilage doesn’t show up on X-ray images, but cartilage loss is revealed by a narrowing of the space between the bones in your joint. An X-ray may also show bone spurs around a joint. Some people may have X-ray evidence of