When there is a breakdown of the cartilage in one or even more joints the condition is popularly called Osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis which is a type of arthritis. Cartilage acts like a cushion between bone and also prevents them from rubbing against each other. It is an opaque connective tissue in the body.

Statistics show that degenerative arthritis affects nearly 20 million Americans. Experts believe these numbers will double or perhaps even triple, over the next decade due to the explosion of Baby Boomers turning to senior citizens.

The chance of developing degenerative arthritis goes up with age. Women beyond the age of 55 and men more than 45 years of age have more chances of suffering from it. But the chances of women getting it are higher and it does not have any affinity to the race they belong to.

Degenerative arthritis in most cases strikes the feet, spine, hands as well as huge joints like knees and hips which bear weight.

There are two types of degenerative arthritis: primary and secondary. Primary degenerative arthritis is most often related to aging and the degeneration of cartilage. In severe cases, there is a total loss of cartilage which causes friction between the bones causing joint pain, swelling, and inflammation.

An individual can suffer from secondary degenerative arthritis as the consequence of some other medical condition like diabetes, gout or hormone disturbances. It is also possible to get degenerative arthritis if a person is overweight has had a number of surgeries or has some congenital abnormality.

No other organ of the body is affected by degenerative arthritis other than the joint. If there is swelling redness with pain in the joints it is an important symptom of degenerative arthritis.

As a matter of fact signs of degenerative arthritis may differ from person to person and some may get incapacitated by the symptoms and others may not suffer as much. It is possible that you get the symptoms daily or once in a while.

Degenerative arthritis is a condition where no complete cures have been discovered and there are various ways of finding relief. Some special medicines, rest, proper exercise, therapy etc are some ways of finding help. It is possible to take injections in the joints for pain and inflammation as well as eat and apply medicines for the problem.

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