Effects on the Body of Osteoarthritis and Osteoporosis - Assignment Example

The onset of osteoarthritis begins by the fourth decade of life in an individual and by the sixth decade of life, 80 percent of people will present with this pathology in any single joint of their body (Robbins et al 2005; Sharma et al 2007).

            Many changes occur in the human body with the increase of age.  The reduction in the working and efficiency of the muscles, reduction in the force of the muscles as well as the reduced capacity of movement production are age-related muscular changes. Changes in the ligaments also take place with age which includes decreased strength as well as elasticity of the ligaments. The ligaments and the muscles serve the purpose of providing steadiness to the movements of joints. These changes alter the mechanical nature of the joints and hence are associated with osteoarthritis as they result in decreased capacity of the joint to adapt to weight and stress and hence damage to the cartilage of the joint occurs with strain. Furthermore, muscles also tend to reduce the shock from affecting the joints and hence reduced muscle functioning also leads to damaging the joint. These damages may be associated with the accumulation of inflammatory cells within the joint cartilage (Conn 2006; Forceia et al 2000).

            The cartilage of the joints is made up of collagen type II, proteoglycans, and glycosaminoglycans. The cartilaginous tissue also consists of water. This structure of the cartilage assists in the free movements of joints and serves to distribute the weight properly. But with age, the functional and structural capacity of this tissue reduces. This leads to damage to the tissue with stress and again predisposes to osteoarthritis. With aging, the water content of the cartilage also increases and the supportive structures which include collagen and proteoglycan also tend to reduce. The damage to the joints results in the presence of inflammatory cells within the joint (Robbins et al 2005; Forciea et al 2000)

            Osteoarthritis is a condition that presents with tenderness in the joints and difficulty in the movement of joints in the morning. It is believed that the process of the disease is early but it presents with symptoms at a later age. The joints which are mainly affected are the knee, hip, and the joints of the finger. The disease usually does not affect all the joints of the body but is limited to a few joints (Robbins et al 2005).

            Osteoporosis is a pathological disease of the bones of the skeleton. It results due to a reduction in the mass of the bone which makes the patient susceptible to fractures of the bones of the body. Aging is considered to be a very important and primary cause of this disease. The fractures that result due to decreased bone mass are associated with 1 million cases of fractures in the United States annually (Robbins et al 2005).

            Changes in the structure of the bone tend to occur with age. The density of the bone becomes reduced and changes with change. On an annual basis, every normal individual loses 2 percent of their bone density. Thus the minerals of the bones tend to reduce with age making the bones weaker and more susceptible to fracture. This accounts for an osteoporotic change of the bone (National Institutes of Health 2004). Cellular changes occur in the bones as well with age. The bone-forming cells which are referred to as the osteoblasts also change in the aging population. Thus alterations at the cellular levels in the bones are also observed. The functional capacity of the osteoblasts tends to reduce with age and the potential of forming bone tends to get decreased with age. Other important substances which tend to stimulate the replication and formation of bone also tend to lose their efficiency. These include the growth factors.  Thus with time, there is reduced capacity for the forming of bones but the presence of the osteoblasts tends to increase to cope with reduced functional capacity.  A few types of research also highlight the fact that the bone-breaking cells that are osteoclasts also tend to increase with age and hence bone resorption increases to higher levels as compared to the formation (Robbins et al 2005; Rauner et al 2008).

            The modeling and the remodeling of the bone continue throughout the lifetime of an individual. The capacity to perform physical tasks and exercises decreases with age. These physical activities are essential for the promotion of bone modeling. This is proved by the fact that athletes have increased bone densities as compared to normal individuals owing to higher levels of exercise. At the same time, reduced bone mass is seen in people who have limbs that cannot be moved. Thus, reduced movements with increasing age result in the reduction of bone density. Furthermore, an added risk factor for females is menopause which tends to increase the activity of the bone-breaking cells that is osteoclasts. Therefore, osteoclasts tend to reduce bone density (Robbins et al 2005; Rauner et al 2008).

            Osteoporosis renders the bones of the body to become weak and the incidence of fractures tends to increase. Physical activity along with mineral supplements is prescribed for this condition (Robbins et al 2005).