| While nearly 21 million American people are affected | | | | knee joints. |
| by osteoarthritis, not every one suffers from it. Some | | | | You are past age 45: Over time cartilage and other |
| people actually have been through their golden years | | | | joint areas tend to degrade and become weaker. Just |
| with joints unaffected by pain, or stiffness. However, | | | | like most tissues in your body, after being used for a |
| others are hobbling around before they reach the age | | | | long time, they start to wear out. The good news is |
| of 35. So how come one person can get osteoarthritis, | | | | that, according to some extensive research, |
| but another gets away from it? How can you tell if | | | | osteoarthritis is not inevitable as we are getting older. |
| you happen to be particularly susceptible to it? | | | | The odds of developing osteoarthritis just go up. |
| Although it is not 100% for sure, statistics show that | | | | Your joints have been repeatedly stressed: Some |
| you are more likely to develop osteoarthritis if: | | | | people are more likely to suffer from cartilage |
| You have a joint injury: If you have been in a car | | | | breakdown in joint areas. For example, those people |
| accident, or have injured any of your joint in any way, | | | | such as assembly line workers, ballet dancers, baseball |
| it is very possible that you are to develop osteoarthritis | | | | pitchers, and grocery checkers very often overuse |
| in the joints that were affected by those accidents. | | | | and stress a joint or joints. |
| You are a woman: This may be due to smaller joint | | | | Your parents had it: More and more research has |
| structures or some links to estrogen. As a woman, | | | | shown that a genetic component can be a trigger to |
| you are three times more likely than men to develop | | | | osteoarthritis. For example, one study concluded that |
| osteoarthritis. | | | | genes are responsible for 50 percent of hip |
| You are overweight: Overweight puts a lot of strain on | | | | osteoarthritis cases. Osteoarthritis in the hands is also |
| the weight-bearing joints. For every ten pounds of | | | | believed to be at least partially due to genetics. |
| excessive weight you carry, you might increase the | | | | Although you will not necessarily develop osteoarthritis, |
| force on the joints anywhere from three to ten times. | | | | you can have higher chance to have this disease if an |
| Scientists have found a definite link between being | | | | inherited tendency toward defective cartilage or poorly |
| overweight and osteoarthritis, particularly involving the | | | | structured joints occurs in your family. |