Risk Factors Associated With Arthritis

By Anthony Martin


Bone inflammation is a condition that manifests when one or more joints in the body experience stiffness and pains. This condition, also known as arthritis, is known to affect about 50 million people in America, who have been predisposed to the problem by several factors ranging from the modifiable ones to the non-modifiable ones. Some modifiable risk factors of this problem include physical inactivity, diet, obesity, smoking, occupation and joint injuries. Among the non-modifiable risk factors are hereditary, hormones, sex, and age.

Age is not a modifiable risk factor because one cannot control it. As long as one grows, there is every tendency that the joints would become stiff due to stress or prolonged inactivity. The cartilage also wears out as one grows up, leaving the bones to interact with each other thereby causing pain and inflammation.

Being a male or a female also says a lot about one's likeliness of having this bone inflammation. It has been discovered that more women have it than men. Statistics say that 64% of women have it more than the men. Of all the types of bone stiffness and inflammation that exist, only Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and gout are more common in men. The other forms of this condition are more pronounced in women.

One should also consider hormones when trying to determine the likely causes of this problem. There are certain hormones in the body which make it more pronounced in the females than in males. These hormones affect it to the point that one can say that 70 out of every affected patient will be women having the rheumatoid type. In other words, fewer men are affected by the hormones that can cause this condition.

Many health conditions are hereditary and the same applies to this one. The gene called human leukocyte antigen (HLA) can cause this problem when passed from one generation to another. Although there are many other causes of it, this particular gene is quite responsible for a number of well-known cases.

To reduce the number of these patients in Russellville AR today, people must learn to be active. Instead of sitting at home all day, it will make more sense to take a walk or jog for about 30 minutes regularly. This will make the bones to be more flexible and the stiffness that causes pains at the joints will disappear. Since this is what one can do by making a decision, it can be said that activity or inactivity is a modifiable risk factor.

If you know a person who has joint pains/inflammation and still consumes a lot of sodium salt, that person should be educated on the likeliness of worsening his or her condition. It is better for the person to avoid sodium salts and take more of water and fruits like bananas. Feeding plays a major role in determining if one will have the condition or not.

Smoking is also bad for the bones. It makes the condition to get worse and retards the healing processes of the bones. Even though the exact way this happens is not yet known, scientists are quite convinced that smoking does not help people with bone problems. It is therefore advisable to quit smoking in order to remain healthy.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment