Some Arthritis Risk Factors You Should Know

By Anthony Martin


Certain health conditions are caused by risk factors that are both modifiable and not modifiable. It is worse when the factors cannot be modified since they are natural and bound to occur. For instance, in the case of arthritis, some modifiable risk factors for it include diet, inactivity, smoking, joint injuries, and occupation. On the other hand, one cannot control things like hormones, age, sex and one's genetic makeup. This is why these factors are termed non-modifiable.

Age is not a modifiable risk factor because one cannot control it. As long as one grows, there is every tendency that the joints would become stiff due to stress or prolonged inactivity. The cartilage also wears out as one grows up, leaving the bones to interact with each other thereby causing pain and inflammation.

Your sex also determines the likeliness that you will have this condition. Even though both male and females are predisposed to this, females are more likely to have it than men. In fact, studies show that 64 out of every 100 people suffering from this are women. Also, the female gender has more forms of the illness than the males. It is only Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and gout that one can see more in men than in females.

Hormones, which are natural chemical substances in the body, have been discovered in clinical studies to be the major factor affecting the occurrence of this condition. As a result, about 70% of women suffer more of this than men. That means that if you are a woman, you are already naturally predisposed to suffering from the rheumatoid type than you would have been if you were a man.

Many health conditions are hereditary and the same applies to this one. The gene called human leukocyte antigen (HLA) can cause this problem when passed from one generation to another. Although there are many other causes of it, this particular gene is quite responsible for a number of well-known cases.

Modifiable risk factors refer to those ones that an individual can control. An example of modifiable factors is activity (or inactivity). This means that one can choose to be active or inactive, and the result of the decision taken can have an effect on the occurrence of this condition. If people are more active, the bones are more flexible and the problem will be less common.

One also has to take note of the food that is taken. Some foods increase the chances of having this sickness than others. For example, foods containing a lot of sodium salts will do nobody any good if the intention is to prevent this condition. Instead, bananas and taking a lot of water should be rather encouraged.

Smoking is also bad for the bones. It makes the condition to get worse and retards the healing processes of the bones. Even though the exact way this happens is not yet known, scientists are quite convinced that smoking does not help people with bone problems. It is therefore advisable to quit smoking in order to remain healthy.




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