Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Facebook Twitter YouTube
    Latest Articles
    • Recruitment Section at the 50 Plus Show
    • Personal finance and property expert Sinead Ryan to speak at The 50 Plus Show
    • Life is for living….
    • Your chance to win the Fantastic Finger Puppet Story Set with Nursery Rhymes from mimitoys.ie
    • Mimitoys.ie, one the largest selection of children’s puppets in Ireland are exhibiting at the 50 Plus Show
    • Improve your Digital Skills at The 50 Plus Show
    • Seniorline are celebrating 25 years at the 50 Plus Show
    • Driving Life with Conor Faughnan. Episode 36: Conor meets Charlie McGettigan
    Senior Times
    Podcasts
    • Home
    • News
    • Features
      1. Driving Life
      2. Fashion & Beauty
      3. Finance
      4. Food & Wine
      5. Further Education
      6. Galleries
      7. Gardening
      8. IRISH GEN POD SERIES
      9. Health
      10. Hobbies & Pastimes
      11. Legal
      12. Literature
      13. Nostalgia
      14. Profiles
      15. 50 Plus Show
      16. Sport
      17. Travel
      18. What’s On
      Featured
      February 15, 20230

      SeniorTimes Rewind – Mike Murphy talks to Author, Deirdre Purcell

      Recent
      March 21, 2023

      Your chance to win the Fantastic Finger Puppet Story Set with Nursery Rhymes from mimitoys.ie

      March 19, 2023

      Driving Life with Conor Faughnan. Episode 36: Conor meets Charlie McGettigan

      March 19, 2023

      Alix Gardner Cooking Demo’s at the 50 Plus Show

    • Podcast
    • Competitions
    • 50 Plus Show
      • Whats On
      • Register
    • Magazine
      • Previous Issues
      • Subscribe
      • Advertise
    • Meeting Place
    • Contact
    Senior Times
    You are at:Home»Features»Health»More research needed into ‘the neglected arthritis’!

    More research needed into ‘the neglected arthritis’!

    0
    By SLpeter on March 11, 2015 Health

    Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent type of arthritis, affecting a large number of younger as well as older people, but, as Dr Barry Keane argues, more research is required to find a ‘cure’.  

    The human body can succumb to many different types of arthritis, from inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, to crystalline arthritis (e.g. gout), to connective tissue disease arthritis (e.g. lupus or SLE). However, osteoarthritis (OA) is overwhelmingly the most prevalent type of arthritis not only in Ireland but worldwide. It has been shown that in certain populations, 17% have symptomatic knee OA, in other words, OA of the knee that causes pain and reduced ability to perform daily tasks. That percentage is almost 1 in 5 people! Osteoarthritis is often referred to in lay terms as ‘wear-and-tear’ arthritis, ‘arthritis of old age’ or ‘degenerative’ arthritis.  The misconception that OA is a disease of the ‘elderly’ is contradicted by the fact that 70% of sufferers are under 65 years of age and still in, or eligible for, employment. With such a common condition in our midst, the expectation is that scientists and doctors are working in droves to find a cure or even a treatment for OA, as they are currently doing for cancer. This expectation is fortified by the fact that a patient with symptomatic knee OA has been shown to have the same quality of life as someone with metastatic breast cancer.

    Unfortunately, the reality is very much different. While internationally there is a core group of researchers examining the epidemiology, the underlying causes and potential treatments for OA, this group pales in significance to the number of scientists engaged in research of the other much less prevalent arthritides, like rheumatoid arthritis, and further still to cancer research.

    There are many reasons for this disparity. Among them is the absence of a medication that can heal the OA joint and the absence of a ‘biomarker’ or a blood-based product whose level can be measured and used to guide drug development and research into the underlying cause(s) of OA. The availability of joint replacement with a prosthetic implant (most commonly performed in the knee and hip) resigns many doctors and patients to perhaps pursue sub-optimal treatment of their OA condition. Unfortunately, knee and hip replacement are a reflection of the collective failure to adequately treat OA before it gets to the stage where the joint has ‘failed’. Knee and hip replacement is major surgery. Ignoring all of the potential intra- and post-operative complications that can befall the patient, the outcome of a return to a full, active and pain-free life, while the experience of the majority, is not that of a significant minority. Joint replacement should not, therefore, be considered a ‘treatment’ for OA.

    The treatment currently offered to patients with OA by the health professionals dealing with the condition is, essentially, palliative care, in other words treatment that will help soothe the symptoms of pain but without actually attempting to stop the progression of OA or preventing the need for joint replacement. Internationally respected groups such as the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) have published their recommendations on how best to treat OA. These recommendations were made after giving careful consideration to all of the available scientific literature relating to OA. The authors of these recommendations readily acknowledge that the evidence itself is lacking in volume and quality, which relates back to the relative paucity of interest in OA by researchers in general. As a result, most of the treatment recommendations could be considered palliative. The exception to this is overwhelming support the international groups give to weight loss (in the overweight and obese) and exercise as the most important treatment available for knee and hip OA. The recommendation for exercise does not exclude those of advanced age, or the moribundly obese. If you are 75 years of age and have been overweight for 20 years, then good news! You are not exempt from pursuing this course of treatment. There is strong evidence to show that the effect of exercise and weight loss have the same effect on pain reduction as commonly prescribed pain-killers such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, while significant improvement in physical function is also attainable. Exercise, unlike medications, has a much better side-effect profile, and is a much safer treatment than pain killers.

    How do patients pursue a successful exercise and weight-loss regimen despite having severe pain in their joint(s) which is only exacerbated by activity? How can the medical community address the failure to prevent the progression of OA to the ‘end-stage’ or joint failure? Do doctors need to apply a fresh approach to the treatment of OA? The answers to these questions will be addressed in future issues of Senior Times throughout 2015.

    Dr Barry Keane is a specialist with the Sport Surgery Clinic.

     

    For more information, contact:
    Sports Surgery Clinic, Santry Demise, Dublin 9.
    Tel: (01) 5262371.
    Email:  rheumatology@sportssurgeryclinic.com
    Web: http://www.sportssurgeryclinic.com

    Spread the love
    SLpeter

    Related Posts

    Researchers in UCD would like your assistance

    How my company went from saving bees to helping people enjoy pain free movement

    Driving Life with Conor Faughnan Episode 33 – Professor Donal O’Shea

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Driving Life Podcasts

    Gen Pod Series

    Search the Site
    Spotify

    Subscribe

    Our Podcasts

    Senior Times Podcast Platform · Next Up
    Subscribe to our Newsletter
    * indicates required
    Dublin
    March 29, 2023, 10:45 am
    Mostly cloudy
    Mostly cloudy
    10°C
    real feel: 7°C
    wind speed: 5 m/s SE
    sunrise: 7:06 am
    sunset: 7:54 pm
    Forecast March 29, 2023
    day
    Showers
    Showers
    16°C
    wind speed: 5 m/s S
    night
    Cloudy
    Cloudy
    8°C
    wind speed: 3 m/s SW
     
    Follow Us On Facebook
    Follow us on YouTube
    Follow us on Twitter
    Tweets by @seniortimesmag
    Copyright © 2023 Sports & Leisure. Designed by clikcreative.com.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.