Everything You Need to Know About Osteoarthritis (OA)
Arthritis is an arthropathy with significant disease burden. It has a dominating role in causing joint pains, leading to restricted mobility in the elderly population of all parts of the world. Dropout from work, and early retirement are some of the less talked about social factors of the disease.
Definition
Osteoarthritis is the major subtype of arthritis widely recognized by the pain and stiffness in different joints. It is also one of the most common types of arthritis. It is noteworthy to point out that not all joint pain is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is composed of two words, ‘osteo’ meaning bone, and ‘arthritis’ meaning inflammation of joints. It is a pathology of joints where the lubricating articular cartilage between the bones undergoes degenerative changes. This ‘wear and tear’ disease, therefore causes pain in the joints on the attempt of motility at the joints. It involves major joints of the body like hip, knee, and thumb. Apart from the joint cartilage, the degenerative process may also involve the tissue of the bone. It is a chronic disease, meaning that the process of wear and tear may take decades to complete. In between, there are episodes of osteoarthritis flare-ups. If checked in time and taken care of, the lesions can be steered towards recovery, especially in younger patients, however, after a certain age, the rebuilding capacity of joints may render the symptoms incurable and only slightly relieved by medications.