Osteoarthritis is a chronic joint disease in which the cartilage of the joint is gradually destroyed.As the cartilage is destroyed, changes occur in the bone that cartilage covers and in the joint capsule.
What does the word osteoarthritis mean and what are its synonyms?
The term osteoarthritis comes from the "arthros" word - the joint and the suffix "ozis" - non -inflammatory disease.However, this description is not entirely exact, because with osteoarthritis in the joint, there are inflammatory changes.In countries in English, "our" osteoarthritis in the vast majority of cases is called arthritis (arthrithis), that is to say an inflammatory joint disease (ITIS suffix), although we are generally called arthritis, joint damage in rheumatic diseases, infectious, damage to joints, etc.Sometimes they try to correct this inconvenience with another term: Arthroso-anthroso-Thoso-Thoso-Thritis-Thritis, but it is rare.
In modern scientific articles, the term osteoarthrosis is more often found (from the Greek words "osteo" - bones, "arthros" - joint, that is to say the non -inflammatory disease of joint and bones).And once again, in English countries, "our" osteoarthritis of ostosis is called osteoarthritis (Ostheoarthithis), that is to say the inflammatory disease of joint and bone.
Often, patients, we hear the question: "At the beginning, osteoarthritis was diagnosed with me, and now is it really bad?"In fact, osteoarthritis and arthritis are synonyms, and your doctors have talked about the same thing.
As we have already noted at the very beginning, with osteoarthritis (osteoarthrosis), cartilage is gradually destroyed and the bones are gradually involved in the process.With osteoarthritis in the bone, a section of sclerosis (compacting) occurs first, due to the loss of properties absorbing shocks.Then there are points along the edges of the bone (exostosis), which are often wrongly called " Salt deposits "- in fact, with ordinary osteoarthritis, there are no salts of salts.With another course in the disease, the bone begins to bend, deforms, cysts are formed: often the disease is called distorting osteoarthritis (osteoarthrosis).In old medical books, you can sometimes find the expression "disfigure of osteoarthritis", but now it is almost never used.
The exact causes of the development of osteoarthritis were considered unknown for a long time, so there is another name for this disease- idiopathic osteoarthritis , that is to say osteoarthritis, which appeared for unknown or spontaneous reasons.Of course, now scientists no longer consider osteoarthritis to a mystery and the reasons for its development are known.Find out more about the causes of osteoarthritis, what primary and secondary osteoarthritis is below.The osteoarthritis of the hip joint is called coxarthrosis (from the word "coxa" - hip), the ankle joint - Crurosteoarthrosis ("cruuris" - lower leg), knee -
gonarthrose ("Gene" - knee).In most cases, osteoarthritis affects the two knee joints, while one of the joints can be more destroyed.In this case, the diagnosis resembles bilateral gonarthrosis with damage to the right (or left) joint. Often, not, but several joints are affected by osteoarthritis, they therefore use another term -
polyosteoarthrosis which means the defeat of three or more joints (two symmetricals, for example, knee and others).In this case, the diagnosis generally sounds as follows: polyosteoarthrosis with damaging damage to the knee joints (or one of them). Why does the osteoarthritis of the knee joint occurs?
The osteoarthritis of the knee joint is different.According to the causes of its occurrence, primary and secondary osteoarthritis is distinguished.
Primary osteoarthritis of the knee articulation
The articular cartilage is constantly destroyed and updated, and normally these processes are balanced.With age, updating cartilage slows down and destruction of cartilage, which is called the degradation or degeneration process, begins to prevail.
The process of synthesis and destruction of cartilage is normally balanced.If degeneration begins to prevail, then osteoarthritis of the knee joint will begin
In most cases, degeneration of cartilage, that is to say the development of osteoarthritis, occurs after 45 to 50 years, but sometimes osteoarthritis can develop in 20 years.Fortunately, the development of osteoarthritis at such a young age is extremely rare.As a general rule, if osteoarthritis occurs, then at the age of 40 to 60 years, and if at the age of 60, there is no osteoarthritis, then it will probably not be, or rather, osteoarthritis will be insignificant (certain degenerative changes in the knee joint are found in all the elderly, but they are expressed differently).The elderly, for example 60 years, almost 90% will be signs of osteoarthritis, but not all of them feel their knees as problems.This is particularly true for men who, often already "serious", do not show themselves or do not cause a minimum of inconvenience.
Primary osteoarthritis occurs spontaneously, that is to say without launch factors, it is therefore called idiopathic, which we talked about earlier.
Thus, we have already discovered that age is one of the main factors that determine the development of osteoarthritis, because the cartilage degeneration processes begin to prevail with age.Each fourth person over 55 suffers from osteoarthritis of the knee joints.But we have also noted that with age, osteoarthritis does not develop in everyone.There are therefore other reasons.Before listing them, we note that there is no main and main reason.The osteoarthritis of the knee joint develops in terms of causes, while some play an important role, while others - less.
Ainsi, nous avons déjà découvert que l'âge est l'un des principaux facteurs qui déterminent le développement de l'arthrose, car les processus de dégénérescence du cartilage commencent à prévaloir avec l'âge. Chaque quatrième personne de plus de 55 ans souffre d'arthrose des articulations du genou. Mais nous avons également noté qu'avec l'âge, l'arthrose ne se développe pas chez tout le monde. Il y a donc d'autres raisons. Avant de les énumérer, nous notons qu'il n'y a pas de raison principale et principale. L'arthrose de l'articulation du genou se développe en termes de causes, tandis que certains jouent un rôle important, tandis que d'autres - moins.
Ground. More often, women of the knee joint are suffered by women.The exact reasons for this are unknown, but you can try to explain the following reasons.On average, the life expectancy of women is greater than that of men and, therefore, the average elderly woman will express more degenerative processes.In addition, body weight in women is on average slightly higher.The size of the bone in women is smaller than in men and, coupled with higher body weight, this leads to higher pressure in the knee joint and, therefore, a more intense mechanical destruction of cartilage.In the overwhelming majority of cases in women, osteoarthritis begins to appear after the cessation of menstruation and, possibly, the deficiency of estrogens determines the development of osteoarthritis.Note that attempts to treat osteoarthritis of the knee joint in women after menopause by estrogens are, of course, companies, but so far, they fail.
Weight. Of course, the larger the body weight, the more the load must be transferred to our knee joints.In addition, overweight reduces physical activity and leads to the weakness of hip muscles.For a more active synthesis of cartilage, movements (without excessive pressure) are necessary, and with a sedentary lifestyle, the cartridge cartridge processes begin to prevail.The hip muscles are important stabilizers of the knee joint, and with the weakness of these muscles, the movement in the knee joint becomes more painted, which accelerates the destruction of cartilage.In general, these processes can be described as a vicious circle: the greater the body weight, the faster the knee, the greater the pain, the more difficult it is to move, which again leads to excess body weight.
Vicious circle of obesity and osteoarthritis of the knee joint
On the other hand, only osteoarthritis of the knee joint only develops among complete people - those who have no obesity can also suffer from osteoarthritis.Again, it is because osteoarthritis has no reason.
Heredity. It has long been noticed that osteoarthritis of the knee joints is a "family" disease.If you suffer from osteoarthritis or your parents, then, unfortunately, the probability of this disease is high with you.Scientists have discovered many characteristics of genes that are responsible, for example, for the individual characteristics of the structure of the main cartridge of cartilage - collagen, but, unfortunately, so far, these discoveries have no practical meaning, because we cannot affect the prevention or treatment of osteoarthritis.It is proven that the heritage of osteoarthritis is transmitted along the female line, which partly explains their great tendency to this disease.
Primary osteoarthritis of the knee joint does not occur for a reason, but only by their totality.At the same time, osteoarthritis of the knee joint is to one degree or another in almost all people over the age of 60, but the severity of osteoarthritis is very different, and not always osteoarthritis found on radiography is manifested.In fact, it is even more difficult: no pain in the knee joint in an elderly person or, moreover, at the age of 40 to 60 will not be accompanied by changes in the radiography characteristic of osteoarthritis.
For example, scientists discovered that 76% of the elderly with complaints of pain in the knees on radiography found osteoarthritis. In other words, no pain in the knee joint in an elderly person is necessarily osteoarthritis of the knee joint. At the same time, among all the elderly suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee joints found on radiography, only 81% will make complaints concerning pain. In other words, existing osteoarthritis does not always hurt to exist.Sometimes the changes on radiography are completely insignificant, and the pain is strong, and this happens in the opposite: the joint is completely destroyed on radiography, and a person can bicycle, engage in yoga, work like a malarus, and such cases that we meet almost every day.
More often, osteoarthritis of the knee joint begins with the internal department (medial).knee affected by osteoarthritis from the inside.The blue arrow marked the exterior section of the joint and the orange - the interior of the joint.Pay attention to the way in which the gap between the bones is already from the inside: the cartilage is not visible on the radiography, and it is this difference which means cartilage.In this case, there is practically no more cartilage inside the knee joint and the bone is already rubbed on the bone.
With a progressive abrasion of the cartilage of the interior of the knee joint, the leg begins to fold.Since osteoarthritis often affects the two knee joints, that is to say it is bilateral, both legs are starting to be twisted and a deformation of the O-shaped foot occurs (Varior deformation).
Avec une abrasion progressive du cartilage de l'intérieur de l'articulation du genou, la jambe commence à se plier. Étant donné que l'arthrose affecte souvent les deux articulations du genou, c'est-à-dire qu'elle est bilatérale, les deux jambes commencent à être tordues et une déformation du pied en forme de O se produit (déformation varior).
Less commonly (in around 10% of cases), the external parts of the joint are affected by osteoarthritis and, in this case, the deformation in the form of X (valgus) begins.
Of course, with the curvature, the load on the internal deformation variants (with in form o) or external (with in the shape of x) increases even more, and the osteoIrrevocably.
Osteoarthritis can start not only in the interior or external section, but also between the cup of the knee (ball joint) and the femur interconery furrow.This option is called Ratello-Phomoral osteoarthritis and it is generally occurred due to inclination, subluxation of a pattern, lateral hyperpression syndrome to which a separate article is dedicated to our website or after Broad fractures , that you can also read in a separate article.
Secondary osteoarthritis of the knee joint
The osteoarthritis of the knee joint can also develop due to all specific causes, in this case, osteoarthritis is called secondary.We will now speak briefly of secondary osteoarthritis options.
Post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the knee joint. The injuries of the knee joint, of course, do not add a health joint and almost all, in one way or another, increase the risk of osteoarthritis.Unfortunately, anyone gaping the meniscus has ever had the probability of developing osteoarthritis.If a medial (internal) meniscus is damaged, then osteoarthritis will develop inside the knee joint.And, consequently, if the external meniscus bursts, then osteoarthritis will develop in the external joint of the joint.Note that the rupture of the meniscus does not necessarily lead to osteoarthritis, the probability of its development.Of course, the more damaged the meniscus, the higher the risk of osteoarthritis.
Another reason for the development of osteoarthritis of the knee articulation is the rupture of ligaments, for example, a breakdown of the cross ligament before.Due to the rupture of the ligament in the articulation, the instability may appear, which, of course, will cause damage to cartilage and the development of osteoarthritis.Naturally, damage to cartilage depends on the degree of instability, which may be different.
A much heavier injury to the knee joint is a fracture of the tibia of the tibia or the fracture of the femoral condyles if the fracture line enters the joint surface, then such a fracture is called intra-articular.Almost all intra-articular fractures are accompanied by a displacement of the fragments, and therefore, the shape of the articular surface changes.The step which appears following the change inevitably leads to a progressive destruction of cartilage and to the appearance of osteoarthritis.Of course, the higher a fracture, the larger the intra-articular fracture of the fragments, the more the cartilage and the risk of osteoarthritis.After the heavy multi-body fractures of tibial condyles, osteoarthritis develops in almost 100% of cases even despite the perfectly carried out osteosynthesis surgery (elimination of bone fragments and fixing with screws, plates, etc.)