According to relevant data from the World Health Organization, there are more than 400 million people suffering from osteoarthrosis in the world. The number of osteoarthritis patients in my country exceeds 15% of the total population, and the incidence rate increases with age. Osteoarthritis is listed as the world’s number one disabling disease.
In china there are more than 100 million osteoarthritis patients, and only half of them see a doctor
Data show that there are approximately 140 million patients with osteoarthritis in my country. The current consultation rate for patients with osteoarthritis is only 50%. The time from the onset of pain to diagnosis is as long as 2 years, and 91.6% of patients are followed up only when they have knee pain.
Why is the consultation rate so low?
Because everyone has a misunderstanding about osteoarthritis!
Osteoarthritis has long been a disease that is easily overlooked. It is considered a normal manifestation of aging and often does not get enough attention from patients, especially early osteoarthritis. Patients often think of seeing a doctor when they have to seek surgical treatment in the late stage of the disease, and therefore miss the best time for treatment. In fact, osteoarthritis is a complex disease with various pathogenesis such as inflammation, metabolic abnormalities, and genetics. Early detection, early prevention and early treatment can improve the course of the disease.
Arthritis is not a senile disease
It is not uncommon for people in their 20s to get gout and arthritis. More and more young people are engaged in mental work. Common examples include the gout of the “foodies”, the neck and shoulder syndrome of the “sedentary”, the mouse hands of the “computer people”, the elbows of the mobile phones of the “mobile phone people”, and “driving cars”. “Tribe” has joint health problems such as lumbar spondylosis.
Arthritis is one of the most common chronic diseases. There are more than one hundred types. The most common are osteoarthritis (articular cartilage tissue is damaged, causing pain and loss of mobility in related parts of the body) and rheumatoid arthritis (due to Overactive immune system function causes joint inflammation), and the age of onset is gradually getting younger. In addition, such as Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JRA), Juvenile Polyarticular Rheumatoid Arthritis, Traumatic Arthritis, Lupus Erythematosus Arthritis, etc. do not pick age, even some It is more common among young and middle-aged people.
Causes of osteoarthritis
For young people, “obesity” and “excessive exercise” are the main causes of joint damage.
The knee is the most fatigued joint of the human body and is very easy to wear. Obesity will keep the knee joint in a weight-bearing state for a long time, and the cartilage surface will gradually degenerate and wear out. Some patients will noticeably improve the joint pain after losing weight. For people who are fatter, it is recommended to choose exercise methods such as swimming and cycling, because such exercise will disperse the body weight and not all concentrate on the joints.
Sports such as kicking, running, and mountaineering can cause serious damage to the knee joints. The reason is that when we are walking slowly, the knee joint bears 1~2 times the weight of the body weight. If climbing, especially when going down the mountain, the force bearing will increase to 6 times. If the weight is 100 kg, the joint will bear 600 when climbing the mountain. Jin, let alone excessive exercise.
How to detect osteoarthritis as early as possible?
The disease can be diagnosed early through a simple examination. Studies have found that the three symptoms of osteoarthritis (persistent knee pain, morning stiffness, and hypofunction) and three signs (bone fricative, restricted movement, and osseous enlargement) can be well diagnosed . When these phenomena are discovered, go to the hospital for further diagnosis as soon as possible.
How to prevent the occurrence of joint disease?
1. Control your weight
Obesity is the enemy of the knee. Proper exercise is very important to increase muscle strength and maintain a normal weight.
2. Do less exercises with too much weight on joints and avoid excessive exercises
Exercise activities should be relatively mild, such as swimming, jogging, walking, Tai Chi, Baduan Jin, etc., try to avoid frequent up and down stairs, mountain climbing, climbing, heavy squatting and other activities that may cause knee joint damage .
3. Reasonable diet
The diet should avoid excessive intake of carbonated beverages, a balanced diet, and reduce the intake of foods with high purine content (such as shelled seafood, animal offal, meat, etc.) to reduce the occurrence of gouty arthritis.
4. Keep warm
Although cold weather itself does not cause or aggravate osteoarthritis, it can make the symptoms of arthritis more obvious and aggravate the pain. Pay attention to cold and warm can reduce pain.
- open fingers (also called finger-tip gloves)
- wrist wraps
- heated gloves that use infrared light