Erosive osteoarthritis - also known as OA - is one of the types of arthritis with a higher incidence in our 21st century society , but it is also a great unknown. Today, in the blog of people who live in pain we will try to answer the many questions that arise when talking about this disease, a condition that, if not treated properly can seriously affect our quality of life .
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The most common arthritis
Maybe you know there are many types of arthritis . The most well-known is usually rheumatoid arthritis , but we must not forget other inflammatory and very painful diseases such as, for example, tendonitis , bursitis, the so-called carpal tunnel syndrome or, of course, the protagonist condition of today's article: erosive osteoarthritis.
In general we could say that erosive osteoarthritis is a rheumatic and very painful disease that is produced by the progressive wear of the cartilages of our bones . This type of arthritis is more common among older people for one simple reason: over the years. Over time, that tissue called cartilage is losing density and fails to fully or partially fulfill its main function: to get the joints of our arms, elbows, ankles and wrists moving smoothly.
Erosive osteoarthritis: main risk factors
- Age: as we told you in the previous paragraph, the first risk factor involved in this condition is age. People over 50 are more susceptible to this type of arthritis .
- Sex: up to approximately 45-50 years, it could be said that osteoarthritis does not understand the sexes, affects similarly to men and women. But from that age range, the different medical studies warn a higher incidence among women of this type of arthritis in the hands, hips and knees . In addition - and always speaking in general terms - women usually notice the first symptoms a few years before men.
- The lifestyle: in recent years there have been numerous investigations that point to an increase in the number of osteoarthritis patients in Western countries , in supposedly advanced societies where sedentary life prevails and lack of adequate and controlled physical exercise .
- Obesity : As in the previous point, the latest medical advances directly relate osteoarthritis to obesity . There are several theories that could explain this relationship, for example:
- Excessive ingestion of certain foods can directly damage the internal structure of both the cartilage and the bones.
- The overweight exerts a continuous and excessive pressure on our joints propitiating, thus, the progressive wear and loss of cartilage functions.
Main symptoms of osteoarthritis
The symptoms of osteoarthritis vary depending on the joint that is affected : hands, knees, hips ... Anyway, and at a general level, we could highlight two symptoms common to any type of arthritis : loss of mobility and pain.
- The loss of mobility. Patients suffering from osteoarthritis see their most basic physical movements limited: walking, going down or climbing stairs, bending down to tie their shoes, leaving or entering the bathtub, sewing, writing, painting, etc.
- The pain It is difficult to describe the pain, but we can see how it behaves in this type of arthritis: it increases when the affected joint moves, it diminishes when we rest, it appears or it is revived when we make certain types of movements, it is usually more intense at the last minute of the day or when we overexert, etc. Pain is, thus, one of the first and main symptoms that can warn us about osteoarthritis or the presence of other types of arthritis .