Living with Osteoarthritis  - By Dr Patricia Gilbert - A Sheldon Press Book

Osteoarthritis is a disease that affects the larger joints of the body, such as the hip or knee. Although often associated with ageing, this type of arthritis can also affect younger people. The pain, stiffness and limited movement it causes may seem to spell the end of an active and healthy lifestyle, but Dr Patricia Gilbert shows that this needn't be so. She explains what osteoarthritis is and provides helpful information about:

• Who is affected
• Signs and symptoms
• Diagnosis
• The variety of treatments on offer
• The help available to people with osteoarthritis

Living with Osteoarthritis is a positive and practical aid to help you live life to the full with this very common disease.

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Living with Osteoarthritis

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Osteoarthritis: an overview
2. Signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis
3. Investigations and assessment
4. Risk factors
5. Treatment (1): how to help yourself
6. Treatment (2): the drug-free way
7. Treatment (3): drugs and surgery
8. Aids and appliances

A final word

Glossary

Useful addresses

Index

Living with Osteoarthritis

Introduction

Arthritis' is a term familiar to many in the older age group - and to a not insubstantial number of younger people. Arthritis can be thought of as a disease affecting one or more joints in the body, of which there are very many. Arthritis can, however, be due to over 200 conditions, all of which cause pain and other symptoms in the joints. The word 'arthritis' is often used to refer to any one of these conditions. For example, the disease rheumatoid arthritis is frequently confused with osteoarthritis. Both diseases cause joint pain, stiffness and immobility, but rheumatoid arthritis is an entirely different condition from osteoarthritis - the subject of this book.

In this book I have attempted to clarify the exact nature of osteoarthritis, which is a well-defined, specific medical condition. Possible causes, symptoms and signs, risk factors and different forms of treatment are discussed, along with basic descriptions of what actually happens to cause such pain, discomfort and disability.

I hope that readers will gain insight into these various aspects of osteoarthritis. It must be stressed, however, that for individual sufferers this book is no substitute for advice and diagnosis from a medical adviser. No book can ever replace the face-to-face discussion with a doctor, who, as well as listening, is able to see what is being described. But much can be done, by simple means, to reduce the disability so often encountered by people with this condition. Osteoarthritis, with its restrictions on daily living, is frequently accepted as just part of the ageing process. This is not necessarily so and living life to the full - even with osteoarthritis - should be a universal aim.

About the author: Dr Patricia Gilbert trained at St George's Hospital Medical School, London, and worked in hospital and general practice in London and latterly for the Community Health Service in south Warwickshire. She was also the clinical tutor and visiting senior lecturer at Warwick University for a number of years. Writing is now a full- time occupation for Dr Gilbert, her most recent publications being Helping Children Cope with Attention Deficit Disorder (Sheldon Press) and a textbook for nursery nurses. She is married with two daughters