Coimbatore: The number of people under 50 who are showing early signs of arthritis is alarming, orthopedics and surgeons said on the occasion of the World Arthritis Day today.
Arthritis was considered a disease affecting women in their 60s and men in their 70s. Doctors in the city said they used to get a handful of patients under 50 with knee pain till six years ago. “The number of patients complaining of knee pain under 50 was hardly 5%. It was because they were obese for many years,” said orthopedic at Ortho One Dr Yuvarajan. “Now, almost one out of every five new patients we get complaining of knee pain are under 50. More than half of them are women. The number has increased manifold.”
Dr S Rajasekaran, chairman of the department of orthopaedics & spine surgery at the Ganga Hospital said that the hospital gets patients with severe arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory arthritis. “Besides obesity, injuries in the joints and engaging in fitness activities without proper warming up are the major causes,” he said.
Staying within normal BMI is critical to avoid or postpone arthritis. “Osteoarthritis is a condition where two bones come together in a joint because the protecting cartilage around it has broken down. This naturally happens only in old age due to wear and tear,” says Yuvaraj. “However, in obese people, the excess weight and pressure on the knee and hip joints makes the cartilage break down faster,” said Dr SR Sundararajan, orthopedic surgeon at Ganga Hospital. “Now a growing number of people are not just over-weight, but obese.”
Changing food habits and lifestyle issues has also led to the situation. “Preserved and packaged foods have more carbohydrates than protein, which is critical for muscle development. Their nutritional value is also lower in terms of vitamins and calcium,” Yuvaraj said. “Lifestyle-wise, most of these people do not do any knee strengthening exercises or physiotherapy. Sedentary lifestyle causes weight gain. Almost 30% of the arthritis patients use Indian toilets, where they are forced to squat.”
Doctors said patients, who come within the first three stages of arthritis where the cartilage has only begun breaking down, can be managed with only medication. Knee replacement has to be opted for if the cartilage in a place has disappeared and a bone is literally sitting on another bone causing unbearable pain. “Early treatment, physiotherapy, posture correcting and medicines can help avoid or postpone surgery for many years,” Yuvaraj said.
But those who are diagnosed with severe arthritis under 50 do not have to worry because there are many treatment options available, Rajasekaran said. “People used to think that a knee replacement lasts only five years. But now there are ceramic joints, which will even last for 25 years and after that, if it requires a replacement, we can easily perform a joint revision, which will last them till the end of life,” he said.
Besides conducting an exhibition on arthritis symptoms and treatments available, Ortho One is launching Joint Club with people, who have undergone knee replacement surgery, so they can constantly meet, share success story and be updates on the latest post-surgery treatment and monitoring facilities available.