It is one of the leading causes of disability in the elderly, as its symptoms begin with severe pain and swelling in the affected joint and soon this pain is accompanied by sensitivity to any slight pressure, difficulty and loss of flexibility in movement, and it may progress to immobility because of pain and its complications, which leads to atrophy in the affected area and loss of its function, especially as it is a progressive disease that worsens without proper treatment.

What leads to osteoarthritis? Are there any preventive methods that protect against its progression?

This is the topic of today's article to answer all of the following questions:

1. What happens to the joints?
2. How can this disease be distinguished from others?
3. What is the treatment?
4. Who are more susceptible? 
5. What are the most important tips to avoid its complications?

1. What happens to the joints?

Normally, the joint (the place where the bones of the body meet) is covered with a smooth cartilage layer that helps the bones to move freely against each other and work to protect them by preventing friction, but when the joint is exposed to inflammation and roughness for reasons we will mention later, these cartilages begin to weaken and wear out, leaving the joint without an encapsulating layer to protect and support it, which results in frequent friction between the bones, causing severe pain with every movement.

In response to the cartilage damage, all tissues within the joint become more active than usual as the body tries to repair this damage, but the repair processes may change the joint structure affecting its function and resulting in difficulty moving naturally.

1. How can this disease be distinguished from others?

Pain and swelling in the affected area are common symptoms in most bone diseases, that is why the diagnostic methods should complement each other to detect and distinguish osteoarthritis from the rest of the diseases, and these methods are:

• Symptoms and signs that the patient experiences in the affected joint:
  • Joint pain and stiffness
  • Joint redness and swelling
  • A cracking or grinding sound during joint movement 
  • General impairment of joint function

• Laboratory tests that the doctor will order to check for inflammation and to rule out other causes of joint pain:
  • Blood tests
  • Joint fluid analysis

• Radiology
  • X-rays
  • Magnetic resonance imaging

By knowing the patient’s experience and through the other diagnostic methods, the doctor diagnoses osteoarthritis by excluding other bone diseases that have laboratory signs and results that distinguish them, and then begins the treatment process by choosing the appropriate treatment for each case according to the rate of disease progression.

1. What is the treatment?

All treatment methods do not completely cure it, but only reduce pain and prevent the deterioration of the condition, allowing the patient to practice his life closer to a normal one.

• Medications

• Analgesics: Acetaminophen and oral or topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and in advanced cases of severe pain, opioid analgesics or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are used.
• Anti-inflammatories: intra-articular corticosteroid injections.

Lubricants: Hyaluronic acid injections provide pain relief by providing some softening and cushioning of the joint.

Vorek Cream, recommended by doctors for its dual effectiveness in relieving joint pain and treating inflammation. It contains 11 active ingredients that play a powerful and effective role in treating osteoarthritis, as it is manufactured with the latest pharmaceutical technologies that guarantee a fast and extended effect throughout the day.

• Physical and rehabilitative therapy
  • A physiotherapist demonstrates some exercises to strengthen the muscles around the affected joint to increase its flexibility and reduce pain, in addition to providing some helpful advice to carry out daily activities in a painless way to prevent increased pressure on the joint.

• Surgeries
  • Realigning bones: Osteoarthritis may cause damage to one side of the joint more than the other, the surgeon resorts to flattening the sides by adding or removing some parts to prevent uneven pressure and loading on the joint.
  • Joint replacement: The surgeon removes the damaged joint surface and replaces it with plastic and metal parts.

• Nutritional supplements
  • Vitamin D: Vitamin D helps to regenerate cartilage production in the body, and its deficiency has been linked to inflammation and joint stiffness and deterioration of their condition.
  • Calcium: Calcium helps maintain healthy bones and regenerate their cells when damage occurs as a result of friction after cartilage wearing.
  • Omega-3: Research has indicated that consuming foods or supplements rich in omega-3s can reduce inflammation and reduce osteoarthritis pain.

1. Who are more susceptible?

The elderly are most vulnerable, especially those over the age of 50, but all age groups are also vulnerable if some other risk factors are present, and risk factors include the following:

• Heredity: If there is a family history of osteoarthritis, this increases the likelihood of passing it to the future generations.

• Obesity: The greater the weight, the greater the risk since it increases the pressure on the joints that carry most of the body’s weight, the hip joints and the knees, in addition to fat cells leading to the production of harmful proteins that cause inflammation in and around the joints.
• Gender: Women are more likely than men to be affected.
• Joint deformity: such as unequal leg length, or arching legs.

• Frequent joint injuries.

1. What are the most important tips to avoid its complications?

• Maintaining a healthy weight by following a diet suitable for your health condition, in cooperation with a nutritionist, to reduce the load on the affected joint.
• Exercising appropriate sports for your health and the condition of the affected joint, but after consulting a doctor and a physical therapist, and making sure to perform warm-up exercises before sports to prepare the body and warm the muscles, and to perform stretching exercises after the completion of exercise to prevent muscle contraction and inflammation.
• Control chronic diseases, especially diabetes, as high blood sugar leads to stiffness and erosion of cartilage faster, and also leads to inflammation in the affected joints.
• Get a rest after any physical exertion and raise the location of the affected joint to prevent swelling.
• Sleep well and get at least 7-8 hours of continuous sleep at night. Therefore, sleep is important in the body's healing process.

*This article was written by an integrated medical team affiliated with Devart Lab, the leading company in the field of Nutraceuticals in Egypt and the Middle East (Nutrigenomics and Food Fortification), by providing nutrients that are fortified with minerals and vitamins that the body needs on a daily basis to obtain effective results in the least possible time. By using the latest pharmaceutical technologies that ensure full absorption without any side effects.