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What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a condition once thought to be due simply to wear and tear on the cartilage of a joint. Osteoarthritis is now known to be a complex process that involves an active disease. One of the underlying causes of the joint changes in osteoarthritis is due to deregulation of the normal degradation and repair process of joint surface cartilage.
Research over the past decade has focused on the underlying cause of osteoarthritis, and how this new thinking may shape future treatments. It is known that osteoarthritis tends to affect older individuals, but it is not clear why some people develop arthritic changes in their 40s and 50s, while others live long lives with few joint problems.
It was once thought that osteoarthritis was simply due to the demands an individual placed on their joints throughout life--if you were an avid runner, you increased your chance of developing arthritis.
In order to best treat osteoarthritis, physicians must better understand the disease. Osteoarthritis is experienced by the patient as pain, swelling, and stiffness of joints, and usually worsens progressively over time. The process that leads to these symptoms is not entirely clear. While osteoarthritis was once thought to be confined to the cartilage surface, it is now known that osteoarthritis affects the entire joint causing loss of cartilage, damage to bone, formation of bone spurs, and inflammation of the soft-tissues. |
