Osteoarthritis, also known as “degenerative arthritis” or “degenerative joint disease”, is a word that sounds rather familiar to a considerable number of people. Maybe you are already affected by this illness, or have a family member or relative suffering from osteoarthritis.
Yes, facts and statistics made on this subject show that a significant number of people are affected by osteoarthritis and that risks are high for you, and me, to develop the disease in the future.
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Let’s see general important facts about osteoarthritis:
• 2 out of 3 people suffering from obesity will develop osteoarthritis in their knee at some point in their lives.
• 1 in 4 people has increased risks of developing osteoarthritis in the hip area.
• 1 in 2 people will develop osteoarthritis, by the age of 85, in their knee bone.
How age, gender and race influence osteoarthritis statistics?
So many people are risk suffering, including your loved ones, because osteoarthritis has so many possible causes. Let us take a closer look on how statistics are, based on age, gender and race:
• 3.6% of the global population have osteoarthritis of the knee.
• In the age group between 18 and 44 years old, the diagnostic of osteoporosis applies to 17%.
• For the 45 to 64 years old age group, the numbers are 30.3%.
• The biggest numbers of diagnosed osteoarthritis cases are in the group of age past 65 years old.
• 2.9 million of osteoarthritis sufferers are Hispanics.
• 4.6 million belong to the non-Hispanic Black group.
• 667,000 come from the Asia/Pacific Islands.
• 280,000 belong to the natives of American Indians and Alaskans group.
Do overweight or obesity influence osteoarthritis?
People who already suffer from obesity or overweight might add osteoarthritis on their illnesses list. Their joints are already under considerable stress in front of their weight that they will not have the power to fight.
Being aware of the fact that you are a person with above average weight, it is imperative to take some measures. The statistics don’t look so good regarding this matter:
• Only 15.9% of people who have an average weight, or under, were diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
• 66% of the adults that were identified by doctors as suffering from osteoarthritis are overweight, or they are obese.
• Among women, just by losing 11 pounds will significantly reduce the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis by about a half.
• 44% of osteoarthritis diagnosed patients admitted to not doing any physical activities in their free time.
• Among the knee osteoarthritis patients, engaging in an average exercise, for at least three times within a week, can reduce the risk of losing mobility.
The percentages of people affected by osteoarthritis, especially the elder ones, are incredibly high.
If you want to avoid being a part of these numbers and, even more, if you wish to avoid the bad pains brought by osteoarthritis you should be more careful with your health.
Make sure you provide the body with everything it needs to stay healthy and, above all, allow yourself periodic activities out in the open. It will help you more than you’ll ever expect.
