Osteoarthritis: Disease of joints more frequent among women, aged and athletes

According to the latest study made by the Medical College of Georgia under the leadership of Dr. Sadanand Fulzele, the bone biologist of the institute, Osteoarthritis, the disease of knee joints is used to attack women more frequently in comparison to men.

Latest invention by the experts suggests that the presence of a particular fluid in the knee is the mysterious reason behind this gender based disease.

Orthopaedic Surgeons have found a particular fluid namely synovial which is said to be the principal marker of this kind of arthritis. 

Talking about their last study about this gender based disease Fulzele said, the differences in the messages cells between men and women may help explaining why the disease is more common in women as it points toward a more targeted way to diagnose and treat this "wear and tear" arthritis.

Around 30 million Americans have already been the victim of this disease which is a destruction of the cartilage which causes padding between bones.

Moreover, past injuries, obesity, lack of exercise, lack of vitamin and calcium consumptions are considered as the main reasons behind this disaese.

Dr. Monte Hunter, chair of the MCG Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and a co-author of the study in the journal Scientific Reports, has described the suffering as 'huge problem'.

Inflammation, pains, soreness in joints, stiffness after a period of inactivity, swelling or enlargement in joints are the symptoms of this disease, knee replacement being the bottom line for some patients.

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"What we found is there is no change in the number of exosomes, but a change in the microRNA cargo they carry", Fulzele stated after studying what messages cells in the region were sending and receiving by looking inside travelling compartments in the fluid called exosomes.

"They isolated the mostly round exosomes in discarded human synovial fluid from patients with and without osteoarthritis. They found in the males that 69 microRNAs were significantly downregulated and 45 were upregulated. In females, however there were 91 downregulated versus 53 upregulated", the study said further.

Females are more likely to be a target of Osteoarthritis. In total, they have more than 70 biological processes altered compared to males who had closer to 50, latest report by the researchers includes.

According to Fulzele and Hunter the gender differences in exosome content can further explain gender differences in disease incidence.

Knee replacement is the very last thing which provides relief to those who are badly affected with the problem of 'one bone rubbing against another' or 'bone on bone'

Apart from the women, aged men and women also posses high risk of suffering this disaese.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention further warns that the people involved in sports like running, basketball and other high impact sports may also be the target of this disease.

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Weight bearing exercises, regular and enough consumptions of vitamin D and calcium, avoinding inflamation causing food items may help individuals to escape Osteoarthritis. Sitting in right postures all the time may also give people relief from this annoying disease.