Page 4 - Osteoarthritis
P. 4
The term “arthritis” literally means
inflammation of the joints. Arthritis is sometimes
referred to as degenerative joint disease. This helps
to explain what happens to cause osteoarthritis. At
the end of each bone you have articular cartilage.
Think of the cartilage as a rubbery cushion that
prevents the bones from slamming into each other
and becoming damaged. As the term degenerative
joint disease suggests, this cartilage wears down
over time and fails to protect the underlying bone
as it is supposed to.
Artistic rendition of a joint in the body. Articular cartilage in light grey.
Bone in mottled grey.
Source: Madhero88
The next question then becomes why does the
cartilage break down? If we look at the structure of
cartilage, it looks like an enclosed complex
network of fibers with layers of water attached to
