Hyderabad: Dr. Siddiqui, RMO, Osmania General Hospital, said, “Around 50 percent of patients admitted in Osmania are suffering from one or more forms of arthritis.”
Speaking to siasat.com he said, “It is very despairing to know that even people who are in their thirties are suffering from arthritis due to lack of awareness, physical exercise and unhealthy diet,” he added.
According to information available on the Net arthritis affects more than 180 million people in India and its prevalence is much higher than many well-known diseases such as diabetes, AIDS and cancer.
Research conducted by the Arthritis Foundation of India, Indian member of International Osteoporosis Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO), inform that due to physiological differences between men and women play an important role in disease pattern. It was found that about 55 percent of the patients with osteoarthritis were females. Among a few important contributing factors for osteoarthritis, obesity being is bigger with 53 percent of the respondents were found to be obese. Further, certain risk factors like hypertension, diabetes and thyroid tend to increase the progress of the disease.
Speaking to siasat.com Dr.M.V.Sushanth, MD orthopedic, said, “In women, arthritis tends to affect the hands or knees more as women’s tendons move around more to accommodate childbirth; they are more elastic and also more prone to injury.”
“Also women’s wider hips affect the alignment of the knees in a way that leaves them more vulnerable to certain types of injuries which translate to more arthritis down the road,” he added.
“Usually Indian women do a lot of squats; let it be Indian toilets, sitting crossed legged for performing puja, household works which lead to pain in knee joints,” says Dr.Sushanth.
Dr. Sushanth said those affected by arthritis should follow proper diet, exercise regularly, avoid smoking and consumption of alcohol.
In the meantime, it should be noted that the World Arthritis Day is observed every year on October 12 to raise awareness about issues affecting people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). It was first observed in 1996 by Arthritis and Rheumatism International (ARI) Society.
Roshan Bint Raheem