Sunday, August 6, 2017

Some Arthritis Risk Factors You Should Know

By Anthony Martin


Certain health conditions are caused by risk factors that are both modifiable and not modifiable. It is worse when the factors cannot be modified since they are natural and bound to occur. For instance, in the case of arthritis, some modifiable risk factors for it include diet, inactivity, smoking, joint injuries, and occupation. On the other hand, one cannot control things like hormones, age, sex and one's genetic makeup. This is why these factors are termed non-modifiable.

One cannot control the aging process. As long as one doesn't want to die, the other option is to grow old and face the challenges of old age. At old age, the cartilage may have been exposed to more wear and tear, exposing the bones to grind against themselves. As this happens, inflammation occurs and the pains are strongly felt.

If 64 out of every 100 patients are women, it means that one is likely to have the challenge by being a female. Actually, while the different forms of this condition are peculiar to the female gender, only Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and gout are known to affect the males more. One can, therefore, conclude from these facts that one's sex is a determining factor and since one cannot control or change his or her sex, it remains a non-modifiable one.

One should also consider hormones when trying to determine the likely causes of this problem. There are certain hormones in the body which make it more pronounced in the females than in males. These hormones affect it to the point that one can say that 70 out of every affected patient will be women having the rheumatoid type. In other words, fewer men are affected by the hormones that can cause this condition.

Just like some diseases are hereditary, the same is also applicable to this one. People who have the gene known as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) are more likely to have the problem, and pass the risk on to the younger generation through child bearing. Anyway, HLA is not always responsible for this, but it cannot be denied that it has caused the condition more often than not.

The modifiable risk factors are those factors that individuals can control. For example, a person may choose to be inactive or not in order to control the risk of having joint pain. When people in Russellville AR engage in sedentary lifestyles, their joints become stiffer and the pains can increase with time. It is therefore important to engage in physical activities to reduce the likeliness of having this problem.

Again, the diet one takes plays a major role. Taking foods rich in sodium salts will increase one's chances of having this health problem. On the other hand, taking fruits like bananas will reduce the risk.

Smoking is also bad for the bones. It makes the condition to get worse and retards the healing processes of the bones. Even though the exact way this happens is not yet known, scientists are quite convinced that smoking does not help people with bone problems. It is therefore advisable to quit smoking in order to remain healthy.




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