It’s a condition that is vastly underestimated and if we were to tell you that there were hundreds of millions of people suffering from arthritis, there’s every chance that you’d be raising your eyebrows.
Unfortunately, the above is completely true and this is something which can severely limit your ability to move around freely in your latter years. Sure, there are some procedures which might reverse the effects somewhat, although if you do go down the private route we would urge you to consider a doctor armed with professional medical indemnity insurance at incisionindemnity.com.
On the plus side, there are some ways in which you can manage arthritis and at least decrease the chances of you succumbing to it as you get older.
Through today’s post, we will take a look at four of these risk factors in added detail.
Risk factor #1 – Smoking
As we all know, smoking is to blame for a lot of conditions and there is evidence to suggest that arthritis also falls into this category.
This is something that has been found to change the way your immune system responds and as a result, enhance the prospects of arthritis occurring. Not only that but as smoking prompts oxidative stress, it’s been found that it can make various areas of the body more inflamed and again this is something that plays into the hands of this condition.
Risk factor #2 – Stress
It would be fair to say that research on this next risk factor is somewhat limited, but some scientists believe that arthritis is more likely to occur when the stress levels in your body increase.
Again, the links are quite new for the time being, but if you are currently struggling with stress this might be something that you look to address sooner rather than later.
Risk factor #3 – Your diet
In truth, this next risk factor is a huge minefield. For example, some foods have been found to accelerate the progress of arthritis, while others have been found to perhaps halt it in its tracks.
If we start with the former, one study last year found that milk and beef might be two ingredients that increase the chances of arthritis recovering.
At the same time, turmeric, ginger and even raw vegetables have been found to have the opposite effects. These are starting to be known as anti-inflammatory foods and considering arthritis is caused by inflammation, this should not come as a surprise.
Risk factor #4 – Obesity
We were almost tempted to include this last risk factor in the previous section but in truth, obesity deserves a paragraph of its own.
Anyone who is carrying more weight is ultimately placing a lot more pressure and stress on their joints – with the knees one of the biggest areas likely to be affected.
It means that if you are overweight, or bordering obese, you should seriously consider your current lifestyle as future issues such as arthritis are much more likely to occur.
This post was last modified on November 14, 2022 1:45 am