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Osteoarthritis is defined as a group of ailments of the musculoskeletal system, the common feature of which is not so much inflammatory-exudative foci, but degenerative changes in specific joints, especially their cartilage surface. Unlike rheumatic disease, ankylosing spondylitis, or chronic progressive rheumatism, the degenerative changes in the joints described here usually occur in the elderly.
Osteoarthritis – causes
One of the reasons for the accelerated onset and severity of degenerative changes is osteoporosis, which affects not only menopausal women, but also people who are on chronic corticosteroid therapy (e.g. inhaled steroids due to asthma) and people who eat poorly, especially in old age.
The degenerative process is not systemic and usually affects a specific group of joints.
Excess weight promotes their development, because in their formation, apart from the direct or indirect influence of hereditary predisposition, a large role is assigned to factors directly damaging the intra-articular cartilages of specific joints, e.g. mechanical injuries, curvature of the spine.
We talk about osteoarthritis when the resulting intra-articular and periarticular changes cause pain and impairment of its function. If there are no symptoms in the form of pain or functional impairment, and we only diagnose, for example, changes in the radiological image, it is degenerative and productive changesand not about the disease.
Treatment of degenerative joint diseases
In the treatment of degenerative joint diseases, it is recommended to relieve physical stress, balneotherapy and local treatments, e.g. iontophoresis, rubbing with salicylates, etc.