Arthritis is a title which refers to over 200 different kinds of joint condition. Each one is distinct from the others and affects the joints in different ways. The similarities tend to end there but generally the symptoms experienced by patients are very similar. Chronic pain is the main one but this in turn can lead to lack of mobility or even deformity if left untreated. This all comes about because arthritis causes swelling in the joints, the cause of this swelling is what differentiates the different types of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common types of arthritis in the world today. It’s so common in fact that people once believed that it was just a natural feature of aging. As we got older we simply became arthritic. Over 8 million people suffer from osteoarthritis in the UK alone and while it’s now understood to be a form of arthritis and not just getting older, it’s still not fully understood. The main causes are wear and tear, past injury and excessive strain on joints from obesity. But this isn’t all. There’s a much more striking correlation between sufferers of osteoarthritis.
A huge proportion of osteoarthritis sufferers are women and most of those women have been through menopause. This has led certain researchers into believing that oestrogen might play a massive role in the protection of ladies’ joints. Oestrogen has already demonstrated protective properties when it comes to heart disease and the risk of certain cancers. Scientists are suggesting the use of targeting oestrogen injections for the protection of ladies joints past menopause. Research hasn’t started yet but a lot of hype has been built around this!
It won’t be long before we start to see the first trials into this new treatment. Oestrogen has some amazing properties already, perhaps this will be one more!
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