As a person gets old normally he complains about the aches and pains of his body. It is not unusual to find a person with aching body or aching joints. The pain in the joints is commonly referred as arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is caused because of the break down of cartilage. Cartilage is the protective material that covers our bone at the end. It breaks down. This leads to inflammation and painful joints. Osteoarthritis has another name. It is called degenerative arthritis.
What exactly causes osteoarthritis is not known but it occurs when we age. It generally affects one’s hands, spine and feet. In old age if there is no identifiable cause then it is called as primary osteoarthritis. If the cause is known then that is called as secondary osteoarthritis.

Aging is the most common factor in primary osteoarthritis. The pain and swelling can be seen in the affected areas. As person gets old the water content of the cartilage increases. This leads to degeneration of the protein make up of the cartilage. As you use your joints over the years it inflames and irritates the cartilage. As a result your joints swells and you experience pain every time you use the affected joint.
As it is degenerative form of arthritis the cartilage starts to degenerate. It starts to flake or tiny crevasses are formed in the cartilage. Sometimes the situation becomes bad and the cartilage degenerates completely. This causes friction in the bones. When there is no cushion in the joints they pain and swell. The result is that you end up having limited mobility of your joints.

Generally osteoarthritis affects any joint in your body but it does not hamper your daily routine. The affected joint may pain or swell but with the help of a pain killer you will be able to use that joint. It is not disabling disease.
If your hand joints are affected then they might look knobbly but you can use your fingers. In other types of arthritis the affected person finds it difficult to move the affected part.

As it has been said earlier osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease. There is still no known cure for it. You can just take preventive measures to minimize the effect by being active through out your life. The other option is to accept it as a fact of life as aging is.