Osteoarthritis Study

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder. It occurs when cartilage begins to break down or be worn away and the bone rubs together. As a result bony spurs and inflammation of the joint(s) occurs. Surrounding ligaments and muscles may also weaken or stiffen. Major risk factors are: genetics, excess weight, joint injuries, jobs that involve more than an hour of joint stressing activities like kneeling, and sports that involve direct impact on the joints, twisting, or throwing. Bleeding disorders, disorders that blood supply near joints, and other types of arthritis can cause osteoarthritis. Symptoms typically begin while one is middle aged and almost everyone shows some symptoms of OA by age 70. This is important to note because OA is seemingly inevitable for everybody. OA is not curable and typically gets worse with time, but the symptoms can be managed. Strength in weight bearing joints, the hip, the knee, and the ankle, is particularly important for prevention. Also important are not overusing joints and maintaining a normal body weight.

Those against acupuncture proclaim that the sample selected for the trails often have bias towards the outcome of acupuncture and conventional therapy. It is required that patients must suffer from various chronic pain conditions and are prepared not to be treated with previous therapy. The study sample seems more likely to consist of patients who have negative expectations of conventional therapy by previous experience of treatment; however, have positive expectations of acupuncture. The prior expectancy of patients can cause interpretive bias leading to reporting bias among patients. To minimise the interpretive bias, additional trials were constructed. Patients from three groups were all given the chance to receive a series of acupuncture treatment after the completion of their assigned experiments while they can also take part in studies on the adverse effects associated with acupuncture treatment. Therefore, patients with potential positive attitudes towards acupuncture and negative attitudes towards conventional therapy were not included in the study at the

Acupuncture can be used to treat osteoarthritis. It is based on an idea that there are channels throughout the body called “meridians” and that these allow the transport of an energy known as “Qi.” (NHS. 2012. Acupuncture.) Generally, acupuncture involves the insertion of needles at specific points along the body - these are known as “acupoints.” This insertion is thought to lead to the movement of Qi throughout the body, which causes biomedical changes that result in the “promotion of physical and emotional well-being” through the release of endorphins. (British Acupuncture Council. 2011. Acupuncture and Osteoarthritis.) Inserting needles at specific acupoints to treat osteoarthritis sends a message to the brain that assists in the reduction of “sensitivity to pain and stress.” (British Acupuncture Council. 2011. Acupuncture and Osteoarthritis.) This reduction in pain can allow for a better range of movement, thus function.

* Acupuncture is said to help relieve pain by either diverting or changing the painful sensations that are sent to the brain to then alert you to the pain within the body. (Arthritis Research UK)

Many people will experience many physical factors such as pain and mobility problems, some individuals may feel that it’s best to take orthodox medicines which are the best pain relief or option for them, this includes treatments such as paracetamol and ibuprofen. However, some people might have side effects from medicines, therefore they choose to have alternatives, such as, massage and acupuncture. This means that pain can be taken away without any side

Sham-acupuncture has shown that the results for it and acupuncture are fairly similar. It is possible that the percentages of acupuncture and sham-acupuncture are similar because they were both the result of a placebo effect. The percentage for both acupuncture and sham-acupuncture were only 50% or less, showing that there is not a large majority of success in the reduction of pain. Since both acupuncture and sham-acupuncture were not effective on a larger scale, it gives more evidence to the possibility of the results being a placebo effect.

Curtis, J. R., & Safford, M. M. (2012). Management of Osteoarthritis among the elderly with

Low back pain has been a major activity limitation for many people below the age of 45 years in the United States (Andersson, 1999). According to a study conducted in the U.S. in 1997, there are 54 percent patients that report back pain and using complementary therapy (Wolsko et al., 2003). Another survey conducted in 2002 indicated that while back pain led to most frequent patient visits to acupuncturists across U.S (Cherkin et al., 2002). Western countries still experience many case of chronic low back pain which can be attributable to high medical expenses, decline in productivity, as well as disability. There still exists a variety of standard treatments although some have not been cleared as affective. Acupuncture is a contemporary as well as alternative treatment strategy for patients wilt low back pains although there are questions from previous systematic reviews that were inconclusive on the results of acupuncture treatment strategy for low back pain. These statistics indicate a high level of public concern hence strengthening the relevance for asking whether acupuncture gives positive results in the treatment of back pain. Therefore this research seeks to gain evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the positive results of acupuncture in treatment of low back pain.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. It occurs when the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones wears down over time. Most people don't know they have it because the aches, tenderness, stiffness dont feel like arthritis until x-rays prove it. Just like regular arthritis, it affects the skeletal system. This is because it causes the bones to wear and then become stiff.Primary osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis not resulting from injury or disease, is mostly a result of natural aging of the joint. With aging, the water content of the cartilage increases, and the protein makeup of cartilage degenerates. Eventually, cartilage begins to degenerate by flaking or forming tiny crevasses.Secondary

Acupuncture is gaining popularity as numerous claims are being made to its validity and effectiveness. Although many studies and experiments regarding acupuncture have been done, the scientific basis of the principles of this alternative approach still remains unclear (http://www.health.org/pubs/acu-nih.htm).

The great traditional healing for joint affliction, equivalent to osteo­arthritis often involves prescribed exercises to maintain the joints flexible, motivate nourishment of the cartilage, and support

Osteoarthritis knee is the common form of arthritis; it causes degeneration of knee joints. It develops when cartilage, the lining of joints that allows smooth movement between opposing bones, starts to break down, especially in the elderly. Swelling and inflammation in the affected knee joint are a major cause of pain and disability.

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder, and more than half of all Americans who are older than 65 have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. However, recent US data has revealed knee osteoarthritis does not discriminate age, and there is growing evidence that osteoarthritis affects individuals at a young age. The annual cost of osteoarthritis due to treatment and loss of productivity in the US is estimated to be more than 65 billion dollars.1 With no cure currently available for osteoarthritis, current treatments focus on management of symptoms. The primary goals of therapy include improved joint function, pain relief, and increased joint stability. Although the exact cause of osteoarthritis is unknown, many risk factors have been identified including increased age, female gender, obesity, and trauma.2 Within these risk factors, the etiology of osteoarthritis has been divided into anatomy, body mass, and gender.

A study conducted by Deyle et al.7 took 83 patients approximately 60 years old with osteoarthritis in the knee and split them into a treatment group and control group. The treatment group received manual physical therapy, which consisted of stretching, ROM, and strengthening exercises, while the placebo group was given a non-therapeutic amount of ultrasound. Participants were required to attend physical therapy appointments twice a week for four weeks. Data was collected at baseline, four weeks, and eight weeks using a six-minute walk test, and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) as outcome measures. Participants in the treatment group saw both clinical and significant differences in their WOMAC scores and the six-minute walk test at the eight-week time period. This study demonstrates that participating in physical therapy can help manage OA symptoms in the knee.7 Another study conducted by Palmer et al.11 looked at the intervention of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to see if it relieved symptoms of knee OA. Even though the main purpose of this study was looking at the TENS therapy, the control group was given a six- week physical therapy exercise program. The study also used the WOMAC scale and the control group actually showed improvements .11 The knee group had 41.6% of its participants reaching

In the United States, arthritis has become the second most common disorder, in the past years. Moreover, the condition affects more than 34 million Caucasians, 4.6 million African-Americans and nearly 3.1 million Hispanics with women being the most affected (Helmick, 2008). 28.3% of people suffering from arthritis are women whereas 18.2% are men (Helmick, 2008). By the year 2030, it is predicted that the number of patients with arthritis will double if prevalence rates remain the same. Apart from being cost-intensive, Osteoarthritis (OA) affects nearly twenty seven million Americans, which effectively limits their work (Reid, Shengelia & Parker, 2012). The statistics show that Caucasians are the most affected and the Hispanics to be the less affected from Caucasians, Hispanics, and African Americans. It also shows how women also have greater possibilities of getting arthritis than man ever did.