Arthritis is one of the body’s harshest scourges to deal with, with the capacity to become completely crippling if the individual doesn’t look after themselves. In the early stages, the new sensations of pain can become discomforting, especially if you were once such an active person.
According to Washington research, high-impact exercises may not be the best thing for you when dealing with the first signs of osteoarthritis.
Whilst it is related to arthritis, the nature of osteoarthritis is that the symptoms are caused by the joints rubbing against each other vigorously. The layer (the cartilage) between the joints is gradually ground away, causing severe amounts of pain.
“The cartilage is a stiff sponge, filled with fluid, and as we compress it, fluid has to percolate through these closely spaced GAG chains,” said Alan Grodzinsky, an MIT professor of biological, electrical and mechanical engineering and senior author of the study. “The GAG chains provide resistance to flow, so the water can`t get out of our cartilage instantly when we compress it. That pressurization at the nanoscale increases the stiffness of our cartilage to high-loading-rate activities,” he added.
The researchers found that the cartilage is far more susceptible to damage in heavy activities, such as running or jumping.
The issues arise from the aforementioned fluid, the molecules of which are in the scope of the researchers’ eyes.
The GAG chain creates the stiffening in the cartilage, which is caused by a variety between high-impact sport to doing absolutely little. They found that the molecules within the fluid changed, whilst comparing a normal, intact cartilage to that which was undergoing the first stages of osteoarthritis. Both were given an enzyme that destroyed the GAG chain.
The normal cartilage was able to absorb the fluid, whilst the other leaked it out.
“That`s what puts the collagen in trouble, because now this becomes a very floppy sponge, and if you load it at higher rates the collagen network can be damaged. At that point you begin an irreversible series of activities that can result in damage to the collagen and eventually osteoarthritis,” Grodzinsky said.