2.  You can hardly believe it when your doctor
informed you that the condition you are enduring is
osteoarthritis. You may wonder how you might
have gotten this disease when you are only 45
years old. Only 60-year old persons are supposed
to have this condition.
 While it is true that osteoarthritis may affect mostly
the older people, the relatively younger ones are
not exempted from acquiring this disease.
Usually, it is secondary osteoarthritis that they may
be experiencing.

3.  While joints are damaged due to the wear and tear
associated with ageing in primary osteoarthritis, secondary
osteoarthritis develops due to specific causes aside from
the deterioration of the joints. Causes or risk factors of
secondary osteoarthritis include the following:
 Trauma
Especially for younger people, injury or trauma has been
pinpointed as the main culprit in most secondary
osteoarthritis. This injury may be acute such as being hurt
during a sports activity or being involved in a car
accident. Osteoarthritis may develop later in life if a bone
may have been fractured during that incident.
Another type of trauma is one which recurs over time and
the cumulative effect will lead to osteoarthritis. A typical
case would be a professional athlete who may be
exposed throughout his career with the same repeated
motions. The cartilage and subchondral bone may be
damaged due to these repeated actions which may then
lead to secondary osteoarthritis.

4.  Excess Weight
Studies have shown that excess weight can put
pressure by as much as six times on weight-bearing
joints such as your hips. The pressure on these joints
increases two-fold when going up the stairs or even
when just taking a walk. This extra weight
causes the joints to wear away faster. The incidence
of osteoarthritis has been shown to decrease with
even a reduction of 20 pounds, according to studies.
 Hereditary Factors
It has been acknowledged by medical experts that
genetics play a big role in osteoarthritis especially the
secondary type. They have found out that this
disease may run in the family. Most likely, you will
develop this disease even at a younger age if both
your parents suffer osteoarthritis.

5.  Bone Alignment
Osteoarthritis in some cases has been determined
to be caused by poor bone alignment and bio-
mechanic factors. Deformity within the bones may
hasten deterioration of the cartilage resulting to
faster wear of the affected joints. It has also been
proven that a simple motion like walking would
have a great impact on the joints. It might be
possible that the way you walk is causing undue
pressure to the weight-bearing joints thereby
hastening the damage to the cartilage and
supporting bones.

6.  The pain and discomfort will be the same whether
your osteoarthritis is primary or secondary. The same
goes for the treatment. What is essential to
consider, especially for secondary arthritis, is to avoid
the risk factors since in most cases, they are within
your control. Allowing the condition to worsen may
mean extreme measures such as hip replacement
surgeries which expose you to additional risks.
Complaints of complications resulting from the use of
hip implants have been mounting and has led to
legal actions such as the DePuy ASR hip lawsuits. You
may learn more about this by visiting
depuyasrhiplawsuit.com.
 Reference:
bonesmart.org/hip/metal-on-metal-hip-implant-recall
orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00377