Osteoarthritis is type of arthritis wherein cartilage found in out joint breaks down or get eroded. Cartilage is a type of substance made up of proteins and acts as a cushion in between bones of our body. The loss in cartilage causes inflammation in body joints and thus osteoarthritis condition arises. Osteoarthritis is one of the most common types of arthritis. Osteoarthritis affects millions of people every year.
There are various causes of osteoarthritis in our body. Generally, aging process of our body is considered main reason behind osteoarthritis. The water content in cartilage increases gradually and at the same time, protein layers diminishes in cartilage. Increasing obesity leads to higher bone weights and as bones get heavier, they come close to each other affecting the cartilage cushion and rub on other bone. As the friction increases, it affects the nearby ligaments, cartilage thus causing swelling and pains in body joints. Then crystal deposition in cartilage is also considered as one of the causes of osteoarthritis. Deposition of uric acid crystals in cartilage can degenerate cartilage, thus causing osteoarthritis condition. Abnormal body joints can also be reason for osteoarthritis condition. Hormonal disturbance, genetic changes, and diabetes also lead to osteoarthritis condition. In addition, study also suggests that increasing infection due to viruses, fungi and bacteria can also lead to loss of cartilage in bone joints. This causes osteoarthritis.
Despite different causes for osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis is often linked with family history. Osteoarthritis is termed as hereditary disease. Your body structure is passed down to you from your parents. The way bones fit in with each other and other body architecture is same as that of your parents. That is why; existence of osteoarthritis condition in family history may involve risk of osteoarthritis condition in you. Some times, right from start your cartilage cushion does not work properly, and thus bones do not fit properly. Usually problem does not arise until you get older. Due to such conditions, osteoarthritis is treated as hereditary disease.
You can counter the problem of osteoarthritis condition by opting for various treatments available. Medication treatment is one of the common treatments for osteoarthritis. Medication consists of anti inflammatory, non steroidal, steroids, inhibitors, pain reliever, and other such medicines to cure the osteoarthritis effects. Then there are topical treatments. In addition, surgical treatments are also available for sever osteoarthritis condition. Then different therapies like acupuncture, prolotherapy, radiation therapy and many others are also useful against osteoarthritis.