Search Results for: blog household helpers for people with arthritis

Arthritis could Cause Knee Replacements to Rise

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Experts predict that the number of hip and knee replacements performed in the United States could skyrocket over the next seven years. Why? A larger elderly population in the country — seventy-six million Americans will hit retirement age in 2008. An increase in arthritis in the American population. Arthritis affects more than forty-six million Americans each year and is most common in older adults. An increase in obesity among Americans — every one pound of weight on your body means three or more pounds of pressure on your knees. Carrying extra weight can also make you more likely to develop … Continue reading →

Aquatic Exercise for Arthritis

A workout in the water has been a popular treatment for people with arthritis for the past twenty-five years or so. Why? Because a water workout can help improve flexibility, relieve pain, ease stiffness, and increase range of motion — without impact on affected joints. Benefits of a workout in the water: Age is no barrier. As long as you can float (and there are floatation belts to help you out) you can manage a water workout. Physical condition is no barrier. You don’t have to be able to walk or stand unassisted (again, those floatation belts come in handy) … Continue reading →

What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

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Rheumatoid arthritis is less common than osteoarthritis — only about one percent of the adult population in the United States suffers from the disease. Many different joints can be affected; rheumatoid arthritis can even affect the blood, lungs, and heart. How is rheumatoid arthritis different from osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is caused by a deterioration of the cartilage that cushions your joints; rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammation of the joint lining known as the synovium. The affected joints may lose shape, affecting movement. The disease lasts a long time, and may flare up (periods of active symptoms) and go into remission (periods … Continue reading →

Household Helpers for People with Arthritis

Arthritis isn’t just joint pain — it is also a loss of joint function. The two together can be incapacitating. Drugs can help the pain, but can’t do much for the loss of function. Assistive devices can help a person with arthritis do everything from bathing and dressing to cooking and cleaning. A reach extender can help you pick up small objects that may be over your head or that you can’t bend over to grab. You can increase your reach by up to thirty inches — that’s two and a half feet. A jar opener — the automatic kind … Continue reading →

The Fracture Triangle

You’ve probably heard of the Bermuda Triangle… but have you heard of the Fracture Triangle? Your likelihood of breaking a bone after a fall is determined by three things: The fall itself The force and direction of the fall (how hard you fall, and what you fall on) The fragility of the bones that take the impact Falls are serious at any age, and breaking a bone after a fall becomes more likely as you age. Often there is a link between breaking a bone and osteoporosis — a disease involving the loss of bone tissue or bone density. If … Continue reading →

Lyme Disease: Symptoms

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Medical literature has evidence of Lyme-like symptoms dating back to the beginning of the nineteen hundreds. The disease itself was pinpointed and named in the 1970s when researchers found serious symptoms coming from tick bites in and around Lyme, Connecticut. Ticks all over the United States, Europe, and Asia can transmit Lyme disease. Deer ticks are perhaps the best known culprit, at least on the East Coast of the United States. Adult deer ticks feed on deer; deer tick larvae and immature ticks (called nymphs) feed on rodents and other small mammals. Both nymphs and adult ticks can spread Lyme … Continue reading →