A condition called osteoarthritis, which is extremely painful and can prevent people from going about their daily activities, is now believed to be much more common than earlier thought.
According to the results of a new study that was conducted in the United Kingdom, painful foot osteoarthritis affects more than one in six adults in the United Kingdom over the age of 50. That works out to more than 3.5 million people in that country currently living with this condition.
Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative arthritis, or “wear and tear” arthritis, and, as the name indicates, this condition is caused by age-related wear and tear. This condition is also one of the most common forms of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a condition which involves inflammation and injury as a result of the break down of cartilage, and persons with osteoarthritis may suffer from pain and swelling in the foot and ankle. These changes are not sudden or automatic. Rather, the symptoms may begin to intensify over years until the person finds that the pain is much greater than it initially was, and actually impairs his ability to perform routine activities. The condition is typically diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging, x-rays, and bone scans.
According to the United Kingdom study, this condition is likely to affect women more than men. People who have spent most of their adult life performing manual work, especially work that required them to stand for long periods of time, are much more likely to suffer from this condition. As many as three- quarters of the people who suffered from foot osteoarthritis in the study admitted that they had difficulty walking, standing, and performing routine activities like housework and shopping.
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