About osteoarthritis

This summer, I biked more than ten miles almost each day. I have a history of pain in the knees. After a bit silly exercise some 10 years ago I started feeling pain in my knees. Little by little the pain grew worse, and one day it exploded. Suddenly I could hardly walk. It took a few years to get better. X-rays showed that the cartilage in the knees were a bit low - a sign of early osteoarthritis. The first thing I tried to do was ride a stationary bike set to a very low load.After a few months my knees felt a little better and I was able to walk slowly. I started taking glucosamine which also helped me a little. The left knee was fine but now my right knee still hurt. Then I got some good advice from a naprapath and began to train the muscles in the legs to stabilize the joints. I got an exercise program that involved no great strain on the knee and after about six months, it felt really good. I could go a little farther. Now, three years had passed and I went to a one-week yoga session. Although I had thought that some yoga postures might hurt my knee the opposite happened. My knees felt better. From there on, I sometimes felt a little pain from my knees, and other times they have been fine. A period, I could run a few miles. While I was staying in Tenerife I tried to run there but the ground was too hard  to run on and I stopped   running long distances. Now I can feel a little in my knees as I rise  in the mornings but this is gone now after I have biked this summer. I still take glucosamine. This was my history of osteoarthritis.

Why is biking on a exercise bike set on a low load good for the knees? We can compare the joint cartilage with a sponge. The cartilage does not contain any blood vessels.Nutrients to the cartilage comes from the synovial fluid. When you put pressure on the cartilage-the sponge- the fluids leaves the cartilage and when the pressure disappears the fluid returns to the cartilage and the cartilage gets the nutrients it needs. And when you put pressure again on the cartilage the fluid is squeezed out and the waste products are removed. Moving is good for your joints.

So why do we get osteoarthritis? There are many reasons. Moving to little is one reason but other causes are damages to the joints. After having played soccer many males and nowadays also women get damages to the knees and this can result in osteoarthritis.

If you have deformities of the skeleton, such as knock- knees, bowlegs this might make uneven pressure on the cartilage surface and the consequences might be osteoarthritis.

If you put too much weight on the joints it may tear at them. Osteoarthritis is increasing in the West, partly because we move too little, but also because of modern-day obesity epidemic. One of the most important preventative treatments and treatments for osteoarthritis is to lose weight.

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common causes of disability. When we get older many of us get problems from the joints. Already at 45 one quarter of us have osteoarthritis.

An early diagnosis of osteoarthritis is important in order to prevent disability. When the osteoarthritis could be seen on X-ray it might be too late. The diagnosis could be set by the symptoms and by the physical examination. If you start the prevention at this stage of the disease you may avoid disability in many cases.
Risk factors for osteoarthritis are often the same as of heart disease. Each increase of BMI by 5 percent means a 30 percent higher risk of osteoarthritis. If you have osteoarthritis hypertension and diabetes is also more common. Marlene was operated on overweigt. She said. I hade big troubles with a knee when I was obese. I had difficulties to walk. I did not want to and could not move much. Exercise was impossible. My weight was 100 pounds more than today. The pain in my knee disappeared completely after the obesity surgery. And so was my hypertension and need to take medication for diabetes.

The best treatment of osteoarthritis is to prevent it by

• eating to prevent overweight
• exercis
• no smoking