What is osteoarthritis of the knee? Osteoarthritis of the knee is also called degenerative arthritis of the knee and age-related arthritis. It is essentially an aging of the joints, especially the cartilage of the joints. The main manifestations are joint pain and inflexibility. X-rays show narrowing of the joint space, dense subchondral bone, broken trabeculae, sclerosis and cystic changes. There is lip-like hyperplasia at the joint edges. In the later stage, the bone ends are deformed and the joint surface is uneven. The cartilage in the joint is exfoliated and the bone fragments into the joint, forming intra-articular free bodies. How to diagnose osteoarthritis of the knee Diagnostic criteria for osteoarthritis of the knee: knee pain and x-ray of the knee suggesting the formation of bone redundancy, and accompanied by any of the following 1, Age > 50 years. 2. Stiffness of the affected knee <30 min. 3. Bone rubbing sound. The incidence of knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common joint diseases, according to statistics, there are about 190 million patients with osteoarthritis worldwide. Almost 100% of people over 60 years of age have histological signs of knee degeneration, and 60% to 80% have X-ray signs of degenerative osteoarthritis, of which 20% have pain and activity limitation. China has gradually entered an aging society, and the elderly population is rising, with the number of elderly people already well over 100 million, and is expected to reach 200 million by 2014. As the most common and important joint disease in the middle-aged and elderly population, osteoarthritis of the knee will become one of the most important factors threatening the health and causing disability in the middle-aged and elderly population. (B) What is the occurrence of osteoarthritis of the knee related to Osteoarthritis of the knee is a joint disease caused by fibrosis, cracking, ulceration, and loss of joint cartilage due to a variety of factors. The cause is not clear, and its occurrence is related to age, obesity, inflammation, trauma and genetic factors. 1, age With age, the knee joint will be wrapped in degenerative changes, collagen in the bone accounted for 1/3, in the articular cartilage accounted for 59%, people reach 35 years old, collagen and calcium gradually lost, easy to trigger osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and other bone and joint disease. Osteoarthritis can start at the age of 20, but most are asymptomatic and generally not easily detected. The prevalence of osteoarthritis increases with age and is more common in women than men. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of osteoarthritis is 50% in people over 50 years old and 80% in people over 55 years old. 2, obesity Obesity is an important factor. Obesity can induce the occurrence of degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee, and the incidence of degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee in obese women is four times the normal weight. Data show that at the age of 37, those who are over 20% of the standard weight have 1.5 times the risk of osteoarthritis for men and 2.1 times the risk for women. In the next 36 years, 60% of overweight people developed knee osteoarthropathy, and the risk of severe knee osteoarthropathy increased to 1.9 times for men and 3.2 times for women, suggesting that obesity may be a greater risk factor for severe knee osteoarthropathy. Therefore, overweight people should lose weight by controlling their diet. 3, poor lifestyle, do not pay attention to exercise Long-term sedentary and non-exercise increases the risk of disease, especially long-term desk workers, computer workers, teachers, typists, accountants, office workers, long-term handicraft labor, etc., due to the need to work, long-term joint activity is reduced, the joint capsule contracture or prolonged pressure. Over time, the surrounding microcirculatory disorders, surrounding tendons, ligaments, articular cartilage degeneration, thereby increasing the chances of disease. 4, long-term fatigue sports, joint damage Some joints may also be overused to increase the risk of osteoarthritis. Choose different exercise programs as appropriate. Long-term activities such as weight-bearing, climbing, long-distance walking, squatting and jumping should be avoided, and exercise such as walking, jogging, cycling and swimming can be chosen as appropriate. Encourage participation in reasonable functional exercise, mainly to enhance the strength and endurance of the muscles around the joint, which is conducive to joint stability and maintaining the range of motion of the joint. 5, genetic factors The involvement of joints varies from race to race, such as hip, wrist and metacarpal joint osteoarthritis is common in Caucasians, but less common in people of color and nationalities, gender also has an impact, the disease is more common in women. 6, long-term estrogen levels decreased This is related to women's reduced ovarian function after menopause, endocrine disruption, estrogen levels decline. At this time, women's calcium deficiency is more serious, easily triggering osteoporosis or knee joint, soft tissue degeneration. What are the dangers of osteoarthritis of the knee Osteoarthritis of the knee is a chronic joint disease characterized by degeneration, destruction and osteophytes of the articular cartilage of the knee joint. See the figure below: Osteoarthritis of the knee belongs to the category of "bone paralysis" and "knee paralysis" in Chinese medicine. What are the risks associated with osteoarthritis? Here we will look at the dangers of osteoarthritis. 1, joint pain, mainly characterized by insidious attacks, continuous dull pain, pain is the main symptom of the disease, is also the main cause of dysfunction, mostly occurs after the activity, rest can be relieved, as the disease progresses, joint activities can be limited by pain, even at rest can also occur pain, sleep patients may be hidden severe pain and wake up. 2, resulting in morning stiffness, morning stiffness indicates the presence of synovitis, but unlike rheumatoid arthritis, the time is relatively short, usually no more than 30 minutes. 3, there is a sticky feeling, sticky feeling refers to the joint after a period of rest, and then begin to feel stiff when moving, like being stuck, can be relieved after a little activity, more common in the elderly. 4. As the disease progresses, joint contracture, instability, resting pain, and pain aggravated by weight bearing may occur, and dysfunction may occur due to poor joint surface anastomosis, muscle spasm and contraction, joint capsule contraction, and mechanical atresia caused by bone spurs. 5, osteoarthritis of the knee will have a joint karate sound, pain when walking, improve after rest, feel stiff when sitting and standing, walking and relaxation of muscles can make the stiffness will be relieved or disappear, the symptoms are sometimes mild and heavy, or even daily differences, can lead to osteophytes, resulting in joint enlargement, internal exudate, acute swelling will have intra-articular hemorrhage, the disease progresses when the knee joint movement is limited, can cause disuse This can lead to muscle atrophy and even valgus or valgus deformity of the knee.