Lower your risk of arthritis
Want to know the secret to lowering your risk of developing arthritis? It's the chronic disease that affects one in six Canadians over age 15, two-thirds of which are women. The answer is pretty simple. Are you ready? Lose weight, says Dr. David Hawkins, vice president of scientific and medical affairs for The Arthritis Society.
Sounds like a relatively easy solution to a complicated problem, doesn't it? And yet, says Dr. Hawkins, “People would sooner take something (a pill) than lose weight. Just give me a capsule and I'll still have my three pizzas a day.” In September -- Arthritis Awareness Month -- 8,250 Canadians will be newly diagnosed with arthritis, the leading cause of disability in the country.
Dr. Hawkins debunks some myths about arthritis and discusses the development, treatment and prevention of the debilitating disease.
Q: What is arthritis and what causes it?
A: If you look at the spectrum of problems that come with an arthritis diagnosis, there are more than 100 diseases. If you have pain, stiffness or swelling in a joint or in a limb, you might be suspicious of having one of the diseases.
The most common is osteoarthritis, which affects one in 10 adults. It is sometimes called wear and tear arthritis and is basically due to the breakdown of cartilage [tissue that covers and protects the ends of bones]. Most of us will have some form of this by the time we get into our 60s and 70s. If you're carrying a lot of excess weight, you're putting a lot of pressure on your joints. Recurrent injury can also lead to osteoarthritis. If you had a fracture like a broken ankle from skiing for example in 20s, and it didn't heal properly, you could have osteoarthritis 20 to 30 years later.
One in 100 will have rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory condition affecting the joints. It's an autoimmune disease (meaning your immune system attacks other parts of your body), which affects women three times more than men, and can be quite devastating. It tends to be aggressive, with the degeneration of joints occurring in a short time, whereas osteoarthritis percolates along.
Q: Is arthritis just an elderly disease?
A: No. Arthritis affects everyone. There is neonatal arthritis, in which a mother transmits it to the fetus through the bloodstream, but we start to see it at one year of age. And with increasing longevity, we're seeing cumulative effects.
Q: How can we lower the risk of developing arthritis?
A: There is a substantial lag between what affects the joints and the onset of symptoms with osteoarthritis. At 20, a young athlete probably isn't thinking about how his or her knees will feel in 20 years.
There is an epidemic of obesity. It's the hips and knees that bear the pressure of being overweight. If people don't adopt a better lifestyle, there will be more degenerative joint disease, coming earlier on. (If you're overweight,) lose weight, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and do moderate exercise, like walking, biking or swimming. Avoid high-impact activities like basketball.
Click to continue...
Page 1 of 2
Sounds like a relatively easy solution to a complicated problem, doesn't it? And yet, says Dr. Hawkins, “People would sooner take something (a pill) than lose weight. Just give me a capsule and I'll still have my three pizzas a day.” In September -- Arthritis Awareness Month -- 8,250 Canadians will be newly diagnosed with arthritis, the leading cause of disability in the country.
Dr. Hawkins debunks some myths about arthritis and discusses the development, treatment and prevention of the debilitating disease.
Q: What is arthritis and what causes it?
A: If you look at the spectrum of problems that come with an arthritis diagnosis, there are more than 100 diseases. If you have pain, stiffness or swelling in a joint or in a limb, you might be suspicious of having one of the diseases.
The most common is osteoarthritis, which affects one in 10 adults. It is sometimes called wear and tear arthritis and is basically due to the breakdown of cartilage [tissue that covers and protects the ends of bones]. Most of us will have some form of this by the time we get into our 60s and 70s. If you're carrying a lot of excess weight, you're putting a lot of pressure on your joints. Recurrent injury can also lead to osteoarthritis. If you had a fracture like a broken ankle from skiing for example in 20s, and it didn't heal properly, you could have osteoarthritis 20 to 30 years later.
One in 100 will have rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory condition affecting the joints. It's an autoimmune disease (meaning your immune system attacks other parts of your body), which affects women three times more than men, and can be quite devastating. It tends to be aggressive, with the degeneration of joints occurring in a short time, whereas osteoarthritis percolates along.
Q: Is arthritis just an elderly disease?
A: No. Arthritis affects everyone. There is neonatal arthritis, in which a mother transmits it to the fetus through the bloodstream, but we start to see it at one year of age. And with increasing longevity, we're seeing cumulative effects.
Q: How can we lower the risk of developing arthritis?
A: There is a substantial lag between what affects the joints and the onset of symptoms with osteoarthritis. At 20, a young athlete probably isn't thinking about how his or her knees will feel in 20 years.
There is an epidemic of obesity. It's the hips and knees that bear the pressure of being overweight. If people don't adopt a better lifestyle, there will be more degenerative joint disease, coming earlier on. (If you're overweight,) lose weight, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and do moderate exercise, like walking, biking or swimming. Avoid high-impact activities like basketball.
Click to continue...
Page 1 of 2
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