What Is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis (AH-stee-oh-ar-THREYE-tis) is the most common type of arthritis, especially among older people. Sometimes it is called degenerative joint disease or osteoarthrosis.
Osteoarthritis is a joint disease that mostly affects the cartilage (KAR-til-uj). Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. Healthy cartilage allows bones to glide over one another. It also absorbs energy from the shock of physical movement. In osteoarthritis, the surface layer of cartilage breaks down and wears away. This allows bones under the cartilage to rub together, causing pain, swelling, and loss of motion of the joint. Over time, the joint may lose its normal shape. Also, bone spurs--small growths called osteophytes--may grow on the edges of the joint. Bits of bone or cartilage can break off and float inside the joint space. This causes more pain and damage.
People with osteoarthritis usually have joint pain and limited movement. Unlike some other forms of arthritis, osteoarthritis affects only joints and not internal organs. For example, rheumatoid arthritis--the second most common form of arthritis--affects other parts of the body besides the joints. It begins at a younger age than osteoarthritis, causes swelling and redness in joints, and may make people feel sick, tired, and (uncommonly) feverish.
How Is Osteoarthritis Treated?
Most successful treatment programs involve a combination of treatments tailored to the patient's needs, lifestyle, and health. Osteoarthritis treatment has four general goals:
This segment was taken from Handout on Health: Osteoarthritis from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Much more information can be found here: Osteoarthritis Handout
May 02, 2008 | /Chiropractic/ | permanent link
Glucosamine & Chondroitin Sulfate Usage for Knee Pain
A teaching brief written about a study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluated different methods of treating knee osteoarthritis. For 24 weeks, patients were either given Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulfate, both Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate, celecoxib(Celebrex) or a placebo. The goal was to achieve a 20% reduction in pain, and for mild knee pain they found that glucosamine(64.0%), chondroitin sulfate(65.4%), and both(66.6%) worked a bit more often than the placebo(60.1%), but it wasn't a statistically significant amount. What is notable is that for moderate to severe knee pain, the combination of the two worked 79.2% of the time, versus 54.3% with the placebo. This is a significant result that hopefully will provide the incentive for further studies of these two nutritional supplements.
Dec 02, 2007 | /Chiropractic/ | permanent link
Vertebrae --> Nerve --> Organ Chart
Here's an decent Flash-based interactive anatomy guide that I found on the web. It shows correct postures, organ/nerve charts, and subluxation & degeneration examples. The postures were helpful and showed both good and poor posture in various positions. I found the organ/nerve charts to be quite good. It is interesting to see which parts of your spine control the different internal organs. The subluxation and degeneration section was more of a slideshow, but it has some good graphics, but seems to be missing some text in different locations. Overall, it has some good information, and I'd recommend that you check it out.
Dec 02, 2007 | /Chiropractic/ | permanent link
Osteoarthritis Links
WebMD: Osteoarthritis Basics
Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy: Osteoarthritis
MedicineNet Information on Osteoarthritis
Cochrane Reviews of Osteoarthritis Treatments - A listing of osteoarthritis systematic analyses done by the Cochrane Collaboration, a not-for-profit organization that provides current information on health care issues.
Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate - A National Institute of Health report on GAIT, the Glucosamine/chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial.
Acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee - A study published in the December 21, 2005 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine concerning acupuncture treatment for knee osteoarthritis.
Selenium and osteoarthritis - A study linking the deficiencies in the trace mineral selenium to an increased risk of osteoarthritis.
Dec 02, 2007 | /Chiropractic/ | permanent link
The Great Back Debate
Here in the United States, back pain is the second most common reason
for doctor's visits. While surgery has increasingly become a common solution, many patients find themselves less than satisfied with
the results. Because of this, both doctors and patients have been looking at less invasive solutions to lessen their pain. Newsweek
currently has an
interesting feature story called The
Great Back Debate. Massage, chiropractic
and acupuncture are briefly discussed in the article, with a section describing Dr. John Sarno's innovative approach to back pain.
May 01, 2004 | /Chiropractic/ | permanent link