Degenerative Arthritis
Degenerative arthritis is nothing but just another name for osteoarthritis. Thus, it is marked by inflammation, breakdown, and eventual loss of the cartilage found in the joints. Degenerative arthritis is the most common of the more than hundred different kinds of arthritis known, and affects more than 20 million of the reported 70 million arthritic patients. It generally affects people above 45 years of age, and is more prevalent in women than in men. It chiefly affects the hands, feet, spine, and the major weight bearing joints of the body: hips and knees.
Cause
It is still not clear what exactly causes degenerative arthritis, however studies suggest aging as a major culprit. With age, the water content of the cartilage increases, which leads to degeneration of its protein.
Moreover, the repetitive movement of joints and cartilages causes inflammation and irritation, which manifest themselves in old age. This causes joint pain and swelling, and the cartilage starts eroding by flaking or forming tine crevasses. Sometimes, the cartilage may even get completely destroyed, which results in loss of protective adding around tissues.
This causes friction between the bones, and further damages joints, causing pain and reduced joint mobility. Cartilage inflammation also causes new outgrowth of bones. These outgrowths, knows as spurs, cause deformity around the joints.
It has been seen that degenerative arthritis strikes several family members, which suggests a genetic or hereditary base to the disease.
Signs
Degenerative arthritis affects only the joints, unlike other forms of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus, which are systemic, and affect other internal organs.
One symptom of degenerative arthritis is joint pain, which generally grows worse in the later part of the day. Swelling, warmth, and cracking of joints are some other signs.
After long periods of inactiveness, stiffness and pain may occur. If the cartilage is completely eroded, then you might experience bouts of severe pain.
The symptoms of degenerative arthritis vary from patient to patient. Some patients get completely debilitated due to the pain, while some suffer from few problems.
The symptoms of degenerative arthritis are intermittent, i.e. they reappear time and again, after few years of relatively painless periods.
If degenerative arthritis affects knees, then it is generally due to repeated injury or joint surgery. When the cartilages of the knees degenerate, then the outward curvature of the knees deform, causing “bow leggedness”. It might even lead to the patient limping.
Treatment
Degenerative arthritis, like other forms of arthritis, is incurable. Till now all medical science has been able to do for arthritic patients is invent pain reliever drugs which abate the severe pain accompanying arthritis.
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