Why struggle with Osteoarthritis

GPs are dissatisfied too.

“One in five GPs considers osteoarthritis to be an emotionally draining condition to treat,”explains Prof David Hunter, a leading arthritis researcher based at the University of Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospital, and one of the few who specialise in osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.

“This unique survey carried out by Arthritis Australia, has also shown that GPs know that a significant proportion of their patients are unhappy with their care,” said Ainslie Cahill, Chief

Executive Officer of Arthritis Australia at the launch of Arthritis Awareness Week . “These doctors feel they are short of effective treatments and find people with osteoarthritis difficult to treat because many of them have multiple other conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.”

Nearly two million Australians have osteoarthritis and it costs the nation an estimated $23 billion annually in health care and lost time at work, not to mention the pain and disability. (Access Economics Cost of Obesity Report 2008).

“One in five GPs considers osteoarthritis to be an emotionally draining condition to treat,” explains Prof David Hunter, a leading arthritis researcher based at the University of Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospital, and one of the few who specialise in osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.

“This unique survey carried out by Arthritis Australia, has also shown that GPs know that a significant proportion of their patients are unhappy with their care,” said Ainslie Cahill, Chief

Executive Officer of Arthritis Australia at the launch of Arthritis Awareness Week . “These doctors feel they are short of effective treatments and find people with osteoarthritis difficult to treat because many of them have multiple other conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.”

Nearly two million Australians have osteoarthritis and it costs the nation an estimated $23 billion annually in health care and lost time at work, not to mention the pain and disability. (Access Economics Cost of Obesity Report 2008).

“All this is such a pity because osteoarthritis – OA – is a much misunderstood condition,”explains Prof Hunter. “50% of people who have OA don’t realise they have it. It’s not aninevitable consequence of ageing and in fact it’s a mistake to think of osteoarthritis and old age at the same time. Osteoarthritis begins in relatively young people and if it were detected and dealt with then, we could reduce pain, disability and the need for surgery later in life.”

 “I’m one of those young people,” says Alison Broadbent, former Commonwealth Games and World Championship netballer with 35 Australian test caps. “I’ve got osteoarthritis in my knees and had two major operations on them while I was still in my teens. Admittedly I’m not typical because I played at an elite level but there are tens of thousands of young girls who play netball whose coaches at the grassroots level need to be aware of the need to prevent joint damage. Coaches can show how to do simple exercises properly for knees such as squats and lunges which pay enormous dividends and good balance is vital – young netballers can start by just standing on one leg at a time for say 30 seconds,” Alison said.

“The message for young netball players is the same as for the rest of us,” claims Prof Hunter. “We need to participate safely in physical activity building the muscles in our thighs and legs to protect our joints and not ignore aches and pains in our joints. The response to these aches and pains is often to cut back on weight bearing exercise, when in fact what we need to do is lose weight and strengthen the muscles around sensitive joints like the hips and knees,” Professor Hunter added.

“GPs have a tough time with arthritis and our survey suggests there are barriers to good care which need to be attended to so GPs can take a more preventative approach. These include more access to physiotherapists, exercise professionals and hydrotherapy as well as reimbursement for the work of practice nurses who are well placed to assist people with arthritis stay on their feet and improve their strength and their pain and stiffness,” Ainslie Cahill said.

“I wouldn’t change a thing in my sporting life and certainly think that the benefits for anyone continuing to play sports like netball vastly outweigh any downside,” says Alison Broadbent. “Our best protection is fitness and strong muscles.”

 Prof David Hunter and Arthritis Australia agree with Alison stating that everyone – young or old, with or without arthritis – should be doing safe, regular exercise.

Background

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of joint disorder. It can affect all of the joint tissues (including bone, ligaments, muscle and synovium) not just cartilage.

The most commonly affected joints are the knees, hips and hands.

OA mainly affects people over the age of 45, but it can develop in younger people.

Osteoarthritis is different to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones become fragile and brittle, causing them to break more easily.

The symptoms of OA vary from person to person and also depend on which joints are affected. OA tends to come on slowly, over months or even years. The most common symptoms are pain and stiffness of the joints. These feelings are usually worst after resting or not moving the joint for a while.

Research shows there are some things that may put people at more risk of developing OA in certain joints, such as:

• With the knees – being overweight, having a previous knee injury, jobs involving kneeling, climbing and squatting
• With the hips – being overweight, having a previous hip injury, jobs involving lifting heavy loads (including farming)
• With the hands: having a history of OA in the family.