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Osteoarthritis is a condition you generally don’t want to have as there is bound to be relentless pain in your joints that may persist even after a few days of having exercised or performed other activities. In fact, osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis in which the joints that mostly are used to bear weights such as the knees and also the hips are most affected though other joints in the body may also be affected by this condition. It is also likely to affect your fingers, ankles, back and also shoulders and toes.

Deteriorated Cartilage Is A Major Cause

The reason why you may be affected by osteoarthritis is that your cartilage can become deteriorated and which is thus not able to provide your bones a cushion against pressure. Your cartilage in the joints could break down and thus cause friction between the surrounding bones which would result in a painful bone spur.

Another facet to osteoarthritis is that the sufferer will have quite a bit of stiffness and this may be a good reason why doctors recommend exercising as a means to get relief. Being sedentary and living life as a couch potato can often cause you to suffer from osteoarthritis. There will thus be pain in your weight-bearing joints and in other common joints that could also swell, and you may also feel like your bones are being crunched, which is a sure sign that you are down with osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a disease that progresses gradually and so its diagnosis may also come about in a gradual manner. You can however get treated with prevention being the main concern; so, you may find that by exercising you can get your joints to become more supple and flexible, and taking adequate rest should see your joints recovering following a day of activity.

Taking a diet that is healthy as well as nutritious should help your joints become healthier and with glucosamine supplements like Synflex Liquid Glucosamine in your diet, your cartilage should grow back again much faster and thus set you on the road to rehabilitation. At present, there is no known cure for osteoarthritis and the treatment that you get aims to provide relief from pain and stiffness as well as to help improve the movement of the joints, and this can often be accomplished by different treatment strategies.

As a last resort, you may require total joint replacement to help you with a severe instance of osteoarthritis, and it may mean getting admitted to a hospital where surgery will be performed, which will bring about significant relief from pain and better functioning of the affected joints.

About the author: Get all the latest information about natural remedies for arthritis from the only true source at http://www.naturalremediesforarthritis.org Be sure to check out our Arthritis Herbal Remedies pages.
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Finding the right arthritis specialist is extremely important since arthritis not only can cripple you but it also can significantly shorten lifespan.

I give a lot of talks and the questions I hear a lot are: “I went to an arthritis specialist and they weren’t anything special” or “How do I find a good specialist?”

Let’s make a distinction here… there’s a big difference between an arthritis specialist and an arthritis expert. To get the best results you want an expert!

A specialist is just somebody who passed the board exam. An expert is someone who not only passed the board exam but who has also devoted his or her life to becoming the best in their field. They publish articles, they do research, they are focused on top-notch patient care, and they make it their life’s work to do their best to help people who have arthritis.

And when it comes to your health, you better find someone who is tops! Otherwise you’re wasting your time and money.

1. Board certification. Board certification is no guarantee. However, if a doctor isn’t board certified that should send up a red flag.

2. You want someone who has been in practice at least 20 years. Medicine is like most skills…the more experience a specialist has the better. In 2001, medical errors accounted for 97,000 deaths in the United States and there’s a direct correlation between lack of experience and medical errors.

3. Look for these initials after the MD…

a.F.A.C.P. This stands for Fellow of the American College of Physicians. This means the doctor has academic credentials-they’ve published papers and are respected as an authority.

b.F.A.C.R. This stands for Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology. This means that they are at least board eligible or board certified.

If they don’t have FACP as well as FACR, they’re not an expert.

4. Arthroscopy is an important skill. It’s the ability to look inside the joint with a small telescope and diagnosis and treat. Ask if the arthritis specialist is a member of the Arthroscopy Association of North America? These are the most skilled arthroscopists in the world.

5. Do they have in-house laboratory, x-ray and bone density equipment? If they do, ask if their lab is high complexity and certified by the state as a reference lab.

6. Do they have diagnostic ultrasound? This is a new technology for visualizing joint disease. It is used to detect evidence of early inflammation and also to follow the effects of medications in slowing the disease process. The use of diagnostic ultrasound allows the physician to perform joint injections with 100% accuracy. Diagnostic ultrasound is also much less expensive than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

7. They should have completed at least 100 clinical research studies. Physicians who have extensive clinical research experience are much more attuned to the latest therapies than those specialists who don’t perform clinical research.

8. A specialist should have published at least 50 papers in the medical literature.

9. How many Google citations does the expert have? Nowadays, more and more people are getting their information from the Internet. The mega search engine, Google, probably has the best ability to search for experts. The number of citations a doctor has tells you how much he or she has invested in time and effort to help with patient education and further their specialty. It stands to reason, the more they write the more knowledge and expertise they possess. To see how many citations they have, just go to Google, put in the expert’s name in quotes, like this, “nathan wei” and then the word “arthritis”, so it looks like this…

“nathan wei” arthritis.

If you get fewer than 500 citations, that person is not an expert. Remember, not all specialists are experts. It’s like any profession. There are good ones, there are bad ones, and there are truly great ones. In fact, there are doctors who are pretty terrible. That’s right. They’re terrible. Why? Because they don’t know their specialty and they don’t have good patient skills. Do you really want to be stuck with a lemon? If you have arthritis, a potentially life-changing disease, don’t you think it’s best to see an expert?

10.What is their staff like? Even a great physician needs a great support staff.

11.Do you get the feeling they care? A good practice will make you feel like family.

12.Are they part of your insurance plan? This is a trick question. The very best experts don’t let their decisions get made by the insurance company. Your health is the most important

Effective help is currently available for people to proactively manage arthritis and enjoy life to the fullest. But the actual prevention of arthritis itself is yet another story.

With rheumatoid arthritis, the membranes or tissues lining the joints become inflamed. There is no known way to prevent any form of this disease, including osteoarthritis, adult-onset arthritis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The exact causes of all these conditions are unknown.

It’s very important for people who fear they are at risk of rheumatoid arthritis to realize that at this time there are no medications to take or lifestyle modifications to make that can completely prevent this crippling disease. However, by making changes to your weight and diet and engaging in moderate exercise, you may be able to slow or even halt the disease’s onset and progress.

But you can only really take the measures needed to control arthritis after it is diagnosed. Until it is known for sure if certain bacteria or viruses trigger the disease, contact with people suffering from it will not change your risk of developing it.

Traditionally, medications and physical therapy have been used to manage the disease. A massive amount of nutrient research has also shown the effect diet and supplements have on the body’s healing processes. Lifestyle changes can also make a big difference.

Causes of the Disease

Joint injuries caused by accidents or overuse increase the occurrence of some types of arthritis. You can also inherit certain genes that may increase your risk. More research is needed to find out how to reduce the disease’s onset from these factors.

Some individuals have an inborn tendency to degenerative joint disease because they have changes in the structure of the important protein-building blocks of the articular cartilage which covers the surface of their joints. These seemingly small but significant abnormalities predispose their joints to wear and degeneration. In other cases, joint injuries may contribute to the development of DJD.

No foods have been definitively shown to cause or exacerbate arthritis in most individuals. A variety of diets and “hand-me-down” information exists about certain foods and arthritis, in particular the night shade plants, but none of it has been proven.

There is a rare form of arthritis called Spure which is caused by allergies to wheat products. Avoiding those will eliminate this disease. Associated features include weight loss, diarrhea and osteoporosis. Consult your health care provider if this is a concern.

There are things you can do to reduce your risk for getting certain types of arthritis or to reduce disability if you already have arthritis.

Overweight and obese people have a higher frequency of arthritis. Excess weight increases risk for developing osteoarthritis in the knees, and possibly in the hips and hands. Women are at special risk. In men, excess weight increases the risk for developing gout. It’s important to maintain your recommended weight, especially as you get older.

Arthritis Prevention Programs

The Center for Disease Control has implemented programs in several states to reduce the onset and consequences of arthritis. The National Arthritis Action Plan: A Public Health Strategy delineates the actions necessary to better understand the arthritis burden in the USA and helps to fully apply known and effective interventions.

This document represents the combined efforts of nearly 90 organizations, such as the Arthritis Foundation, government agencies and many other groups and individuals with an interest in arthritis prevention and control.

The NAAP proposes a nationally coordinated effort for reducing the occurrence of arthritis and its accompanying disability by focusing on these three areas:

1. Surveillance, epidemiology and prevention research to strengthen the science base.

2. Communications and education to increase awareness and provide accurate information about arthritis.

3. Programs, policies, and systems promoting increased quality of life for people with arthritis and facilitating arthritis prevention measures.

The CDC continues to accumulate scientific knowledge on the benefits of physical activity. Because healthy eating reduces a person’s risk of becoming overweight, good nutrition plays an important role in preventing knee osteoarthritis. In addition, moderate physical activity is essential for maintaining the health of joints.

About the author: Executive Director and President of Rainbow Writing, Inc., Karen Cole Peralta writes. RWI at www.bookauthorswriters.com and www.rainbowriting.com is a world renowned inexpensive professional freelance book authors, ghost writers, copy editors, proof readers, coauthors, manuscript rewriters, graphics and CAD, publishing helpers, and website developers international service corporation. And Four Seasons CDROM Store sells inexpensive cds: fun arcade games, business and e-book software and computer learning tutorials, all state of the art, at www.cdrommarket.com .
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