Healthy Body

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Arthritis: Risk, Treatment & Prevention
November 2019

Staff

According to the Arthritis Foundation, “Over 50 million Americans have arthritis, making it the number one cause of disability in the country.” The foundation also reports that doctor-diagnosed arthritis is “more common in women (26 percent) than in men (18 percent). In some types, such as rheumatoid arthritis, women far outnumber men.”
 
Age is Not the Only Culprit
 
Although advancing age is a major factor for developing arthritis, Alejandro Badia M.D., internationally renowned hand and upper-limb surgeon and founder of Badia Hand to Shoulder Center and OrthoNOW®, a walk-in orthopedic care clinic, explains that the joint disorder is not limited to the elderly. “The general misconception is that arthritis just appears in older individuals and primarily impacts the knees and hips. Not true. The disease can occur at almost any age and affect the upper back and neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands, as well as lower limbs,” he says.
 
Badia explains that there are many reasons for development of arthritis, including the following: extensive physical, repetitive activity on the job; previous injuries to joints; family history of joint disease; genetics; obesity; diet; smoking.
 
Female athletes who overuse joints or have had knee injuries are also at risk. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association clarifies, “Because ACL injuries are most common in young individuals and particularly girls, a 17-year-old athlete who tears her ACL could develop osteoarthritis before she turns 30 and experience pain or disability for more than half her life.”
 
The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York reports, “Sports that cause repetitive falling during training, such as competitive gymnastics or figure skating, often cause acute injuries that may raise the risk of hip and knee arthritis over time.”
 
Badia agrees that previous traumatic injury to joints plays a role in later development of the disease. He treats joint disorders, including arthritis, in the upper limbs of professional, amateur and recreational athletes.
 
Types of Arthritis

Badia cautions, however, not to think of arthritis simply as one disease. “The term actually applies to more than 100 different joint-related conditions, and multiple causative factors, including sports injuries and other kinds of trauma, are involved,” he explains. ​

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Often called the “wear-and-tear” disease, osteoarthritis develops over time due to a breakdown of joint cartilage, the hard tissue at the end of bones that form a joint. Badia describes, “Cartilage serves as a shock absorber for joints. When it wears away, bones grind on bones, and the result is pain, stiffness, swelling and loss of joint function.”
 
Rheumatoid arthritis, the second most common form of arthritis, is an autoimmune disorder that inflames joints by causing a person’s own white blood cells to attack the synovium, the soft tissue that nourishes and lubricates joint cartilage.
 
Arthritis may develop in almost any joint, but, in the hands, arms or shoulders, the disease can prove truly limiting, impacting a person’s ability to perform common daily tasks – even such simple functions as tying a shoe or opening and tightening a jar lid. 
 
Particularly susceptible to the disorder are wrist joints and the more than 25 joints in the hand. Badia asserts, “Rheumatoid arthritis can affect the large and middle knuckles of the fingers and, in advanced stages, lead to both hand and wrist deformities. Osteoarthritis may result in formation of nodes and bony lumps on or near finger joints.”
 
Treatment
 
Standard treatments for relieving arthritis symptoms include applying moist heat or ice to effected joints, taking over-the-counter, non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs or prescribed medications, resting joints, and undergoing physical therapy and/or performing range-of-motion exercises.
 
“However, as the disease progresses, techniques to debride - clean out - a diseased joint or even replace it with a prosthesis might be necessary,” Badia adds.
 
Surgery may be required to realign and restore function to a hand deformed by arthritis. Arthritis in the shoulder usually will develop where collarbone meets the tip of the shoulder blade. Should nonsurgical options fail, treatment of arthritis in this area of the shoulder might require resection arthroplasty in which a small end-piece of collarbone is removed, Dr. Badia says. For arthritis in the shoulder’s ball-and-socket (glenohumeral) joint, surgical approaches can include standard total shoulder replacement, hemiarthroplasty (half-joint repair), joint resurfacing, and even “reverse” shoulder arthroplasty.
 
Some specialists are turning to Orthobiologics – harnessing the power of a person’s own biologic substances, including blood platelets (PRP therapy) and adult (mesenchymal) stem cells – as an option for treating some cases of arthritis.
 
Badia cautions, “Arthritis is not curable. That’s why early treatment is so essential to slowing its progression and avoiding extensive, restorative procedures.”  
 
Prevention
 
Although age and genetic makeup are unavoidable, arthritic pain and loss of function can be prevented with lifestyle changes. Badia offers these tips:

• Follow a healthy diet and maintain normal weight for your height, age and frame. 
• Exercise regularly.
• Limit stress on joints. Avoid overexertion, awkward positions, improper posture or repetitive use of joints.
• Balance daily activities with needed rest.
• Control blood sugar. The Arthritis Foundation says diabetes can trigger the kind of inflammation linked to cartilage loss. 

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Find out more information from the Badia Hand to Shoulder Center.