Understanding Osteoarthritis

Risk Factors for Osteoarthritis

The risk factors in developing osteoarthritis include:

• Age – The risk of osteoarthritis increases with age.
• Excess Weight – With excess weight, your feet, hips and knees have to carry more weight than they should.
• Certain Occupations – Certain jobs which involve daily task that places repetitive stress on a particular joint may eventually cause it to develop osteoarthritis.
• Joint Injury – The previous injury may have damaged the cartilage or affected the way the joint moves, resulting in secondary osteoarthritis.
• Other diseases – Osteoarthritis can occur in joints that have been ‘amaged’ by other types of arthritis. For example, those with rheumatoid arthritis or gout can develop secondary osteoarthritis in those joints in which the inflammation has caused damage.
• Bone deformities – Some people born with malformed joints or defective cartilage may have increased risk of osteoarthritis.