I was on a church bowling team for several years and never had any problem. I didn’t throw the big curve, but had some rotation. One night my knuckles swelled up so much that the ball stuck on my hand and one time it didn’t come off at the bottom but did at the top and flew 10 feet high before striking the lane.

Needless to say, there was a doctor’s appointment as a result. He told me I had arthritis in my hands and that I should refrain from activities like bowling.

So I haven’t bowled for many years. I do participate in activities like woodworking that do cause some discomfort, but I feel fortunate that my condition is not real bad. I know others, like my former neighbor’s kids, who have severe issues with arthritis.

So how about you? When did you first discover that you had arthritis? How did it affect your life? Leave a post here.

Originally posted 2007-10-01 19:35:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Arthritis literally means joint inflammation. Most of the cases of arthritis involve the body joints but joints are not the only body parts to be affected by arthritis. In its various forms arthritis can also affect other parts of the body. It is one of the most commonly occurring diseases affecting people of all ages. However most of the victims are able to go about their business as usual.

At a body joint, ends of two bones come together. The ends of the bones are covered with cartilage which makes the surfaces of bone ends smooth for sliding against each other. The smoothness of surfaces makes it possible to carry out the joint movement easily and painlessly with minimum friction thousands of times in a day. The two bones of a joint are held together firmly in place by ligaments which also form a capsule around the joint. The surface of ligaments is lined with synovial membrane which secretes synovial fluid for lubricating the joint.

Osteoarthritis, one of the more common types, results when cartilage wears out. When this happens the ends of the bones in contact with each other lose their protective cover as well as the smooth gliding surface. The bone ends then directly rub against each other. The joint becomes stiff and starts paining. This osteoarthritis involves joints which are exposed to frequent wear and tear such as fingers, big toes, knees, hips, lower spine.

Surgery is no small choice, and doctors and the surgeons they work with are naturally reluctant to operate unless you meet criteria that they consider important.

Hand Arthritis Surgery

Two of the key factors that all surgeons probably consider are the life-expectancies of the artificial joint and of you. Historically artificial joints last about 15 to 20 years. New technologies may extend this, but there’s really no one offering a guarantee that this will be so. For the new technologies, the long-term data just isn’t there yet. (That’s why it’s called “new.”)

Doctors call the replacement of an artificial joint gone bad a “revision.” And revisions are sometimes more difficult than the original operation. This also forms one more cause for reluctance in treating younger patients.

There seem to be two models that doctors and the surgeons they work with go by.

Model #1: Age and pain intensity.

In this model, the age is a critically important factor. If you’re expected to live, on average, to age 75 or 80, and the joint is only going to last 15 years, surgeons using this model will be reluctant to operate until you’re 65 years old.

The other parameter is pain intensity. No matter how old you are, if you need the replacement because the pain is just unbearable, many (most?) physicians will agree to operate.

Model #2: Add “life style”

In this model, the factors of the first model are still considered, but to them is added the question of whether you’re sacrificing your life right now in order to have some kind of “ideal state” when you’re 65.

This is clearly a subjective area for both the patient and the doctor, but in many cases, the evidence is so overwhelmingly clear that the call for a replacement of the joint is considered very reasonable.

And there are clear advantages to getting the artificial joint while you are younger.

• Generally, you’re better able to withstand surgery when you’re younger than when you’re in your latter years.
• Assuming the operation and recovery go well, you’ll have years of a better life that you can look back on when you’re older – even if at that time you get sidelined because a revision isn’t possible.
• Technology is improving all the time. By the time you need a revision (assuming that the newer materials do wear out in 15 to 20 years), the procedures may be in place to make revisions much easier to successfully perform.

Concluding Remarks

This article is a clarion call for osteoarthritis patients to be advocates on their own behalf and to have a discussion of the effects that your osteoarthritis is having on your life. If you are severely restricted in what you can do, if your family is suffering so as to compensate for your pain, and if you can imagine what it would be like for you to see your loved ones in pain and know that this is what they feel about you right now, then it may be past due for you to have this conversation.

And if your physician and surgeon will not take lifestyle as an important factor, seek out a second, third and fourth doctor who will.

This is NOT a call for unnecessary or ill-advised surgery. It is a call for a very important discussion that you should have with your doctor.

Originally posted 2010-01-04 07:00:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Something to keep in mind is that people with chronic health conditions tend to be more susceptible to psoriatic arthritis because their immune systems are weakened. Also, people with an existing form of arthritis are more susceptible as the germs target damaged joints and certain treatments for arthritis, such as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), suppress the immune system.

If the joint infection is caused by a virus the pain tends to be “all-over” as opposed to being in a particular joint. There is generally no fever associated with viral based infectious arthritis.

Fungal infectious arthritis pain and swelling may be localized or all-over and may develop slowly, over an extended period of time. There may also be a mild fever.

Bacterial infectious arthritis comes on very quickly with fever and chills. The pain and swelling will be very localized, occurring in on area of the body.

Infectious arthritis is a treatable condition. Obtaining prompt treatment should clear up the infection and leave no permanent damage. However, if treatment is delayed, the damage can spread to other joints and become permanent.

If you are experiencing pain or swelling in any joints, whether accompanied by fever or not, it is important that you check with your doctor to get proper treatment.

Originally posted 2008-06-04 19:17:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Another of these foods that has been researched in recent years is tart red cherries.

A study conducted in 2003 by the University of California, Davis was the first to test for key inflammatory indicators, called markers, in blood samples from healthy people. Prior studies had analyzed sweet and tart cherry extracts in test tubes.

The primary focus of the investigation was gout, which results from the body’s inability to excrete uric acid. This excess uric acid forms crystals which settle in joints, primarily the big toe, and cause severe pain. The precursor of these crystals is urate and it was the blood plasma urate level that was being measured. They also measured the amount of urate removed from the body through urine.

There were 10 women is this study who were 22 to 40 years of age. They were given instructions not to eat strawberries or other fruits and vegetables, or drink red wine or tea for 2 days prior to the test because these foods are high in antioxidants and the researchers did not want these to interfere with the results of the cherry analysis.

On the day of the test they were given 45 pitted fresh cherries for breakfast. Blood and urine samples were then taken at 1-1/2, 3 and 5 hours afterward.

The results showed that their plasma urate levels were significantly reduced over the 5 hours following the breakfast. Likewise, the level of urate removed through the urine increased over those 5 hours.

There were other inflammation markers the researchers looked for. These include C-reactive protein (CRP), nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF).

CRP is produced in the liver and increases rapidly during inflammation. Normal levels are extremely low. TNF alpha is produced by the body when fighting tumors and may increase inflammation. NO is a biochemical that is believed to cause damage to arthritic joints.

Results from the blood draw 3 hours after eating the cherries showed that levels of CRP and NO were lower than at the start of the test. However, the TNF alpha level was unchanged.

A follow up study, which included 18 women and 2 men, was conducted over a longer period. This group was asked to consume the same amount of cherries as the earlier group, but throughout the day for 28 consecutive days.

This study reported a 25% decrease in CRP by the 28th day and an 18% decrease in NO after 21 days. The report concluded that, “supplementing the diets of healthy men and women with cherries reduced the serum/plasma concentrations of some markers of inflammation, whereas circulating concentrations of many other markers of inflammation, lipids and their subfractions, and particle sizes were not affected. The anti-inflammatory effects of cherries may be of clinical significance and should be investigated in further studies. “

Originally posted 2008-09-26 21:48:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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