Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, has been recently estimated to affect 250 million people worldwide, with the numbers affected growing due to our increasingly aged and obese population. It has a significant impact on general health and human function, particularly with advancing age. OA affects all the tissues in a synovial joint, resulting in failure of the joint. It is a heterogeneous condition, resulting from the confluence of a variety of risk factors. These include increasing age, female genders, genetic factors, obesity, previous injury and occupational factors. OA can be diagnosed clinically, with radiological evidence only required when the diagnosis is equivocal from history and examination. In general, the management of large joint OA focusses on weight control and physical activity. This may be supplemented with a variety of other lifestyle, non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions, often concurrently to control pain, patients’ primary concern. Except for weight loss, there is no intervention proven to delay disease progression. End stage is often managed with joint replacement.