Читать книгу Arthritis For Dummies - Barry Fox - Страница 44

Although the origins of primary osteoarthritis remain murky, experts are quite sure what causes secondary osteoarthritis: various types of trauma to the joints or an autoimmune arthritis (like RA or gout). That includes sudden, high-velocity trauma (the kind you’d experience in a car accident), as well as little insults to your joints that occur time and again, like repeated poor posture or running on a concrete surface every day for years. The causes of secondary osteoarthritis can be further broken down as follows:

 Joint injury: Weekend warriors beware! Once a joint has been injured, be it through a sports mishap, car accident, household slippage, or anything else, it is much more likely to develop osteoarthritis.

 Repetitive motion injury: Joints that are stressed over and over again in the same way (for example, a ballerina’s ankles, a football player’s knees, or a data processor’s wrists) are more likely to experience a cartilage breakdown than joints subjected to normal use.

 Damage to the bone end: Usually due to trauma or continual stress, a bone may chip or sustain small fractures. In the body’s zeal to repair the damage, it may cause an overgrowth of bone in the injured area. The result is a bone end that’s bumpy, not smooth, and joint problems can ensue.

 Bone disease: A bone disease, such as Paget’s disease, weakens the bone structure, making it more likely to fracture and develop bony overgrowth.

 Carrying too much body weight: The heavier you are, the more stress your knees, hips, and ankles must bear. Osteoarthritis of the knee has been clearly linked to excess body weight. That’s not surprising considering that every time you take a step the stress on your knee is roughly equivalent to three times your body weight. Increase that figure to ten times your body weight when you run!