Osteoarthritis Research Paper

Research Paper: Osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis that causes joint degrading which is most commonly found in the knees, hands, hips, feet, and spine. Osteoarthritis is the second most common form of arthritis and first most common in the U.S (Brandt, Kenneth D., M. , Doherty, and Stefan Lohmander, 1998, 67). This disease is caused when there is gradual cartilage loss from joints; this can cause bony spurs and cysts (Brandt, Kenneth D., M., Doherty, Stefan Lohmander, 1998, 30). The disease is most common in the elderly because as you grow older it becomes harder for your body to produce cartilage and the cartilage you had has been worn away over the years. It is estimated that 90% of Americans will have some signs of Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis’s most common cause is mechanical stress on your joints which can lead to the loss of cartilage (Brandt KD, Dieppe P, Radin E, 2009). This mechanical stress can come from a variety of things; misalignment of bones, mechanical injury, obesity, muscle loss around joints and damaged peripheral nerves. There are 2 myths about what causes osteoarthritis the first being that exercise increase your chance for osteoarthritis and the second is that if you crack your knuckles you are more susceptible to get the disease fortunately both of these are false (Lee, Kenyatta, 2011).There are two ways to get Osteoarthritis primary and secondary. Primary is Osteoarthritis that has been caused from living an average life and just everyday “wear and tear” Osteoarthritis can also be primary if you get it from your parents. Osteoarthritis is more widespread in identical twins and siblings which indicate a hereditary base (Valdes, Ana M., and Timothy D. Spector, 2009). Another primary cause is the changing of sex hormones levels it is observed that women post-menopause have a higher chance then men of similar age (Linn, Sarah, Bryan Murtaugh, and Ellen Casey, 2012). Research on mice indicates that female hormones seem to be protective against Osteoarthritis but when the mice are injected with the male hormone dihydrotestosterone it offers less protection. Secondary Osteoarthritis is caused by outside sources such as injuries, inflammatory diseases, and genetic disorders. Primary and secondary Osteoarthritis both have the same pathology. Most of primary and secondary causes are unavoidable and can only be reduced by management of your