Arthrosis is one of the most common joint diseases. It does not threaten life, but significantly reduces its quality, as it is accompanied by chronic pain, impaired mobility of damaged joints, and eventually leads to disability. However, if simple preventive measures are observed, the risk of the disease is reduced tenfold. Achieving tangible results will require a lot of effort and patience: some methods of prevention must be used throughout life.
Control your weight
You may already be tired of this advice: it wanders from topic to topic … But until you start following it, your health will not improve (even if all other rules are strictly followed). Obesity increases the risk of many diseases. Among them is arthrosis of the knee and hip joints, since with an increase in weight, the load on the structures of the musculoskeletal system increases significantly. To control weight, you need to monitor your diet and lead a physically active lifestyle. When excess weight appears, fatty foods (vegetable and butter, mayonnaise, fatty meats) should be excluded from the diet and as many vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, algae and other sources of fiber as possible should be consumed. Foods rich in insoluble dietary fiber keep the feeling of fullness well and at the same time have a minimum calorie content.
move more
Many mistakenly believe that the more you move, the faster the joints will “wear out”, and therefore, the risk of arthrosis will increase. This is not true. Man is not a machine – and a purely mechanical approach is not applicable here. Joints suffer only from excessive stress, but moderate exercise reduces the risk of arthrosis. Indeed, with prolonged “exploitation”, the cartilage is gradually “erased”, poor blood supply prevents its restoration – a degenerative process is launched. There are no blood vessels inside the cartilage, it feeds only from the joint capsule. Metabolic processes in cartilage proceed extremely slowly. And regular physical activity allows you to strengthen muscles, ligaments (that is, redistribute the load), activates metabolic processes in the joints – and thus reduces wear and tear. Physical inactivity is one of the risk factors for arthrosis. When a person moves little, the structures of his musculoskeletal system gradually atrophy: the muscles weaken, resulting in an increased load on the hip and knee joints.
