Osteoarthritis and Cartilage

Question: Describe the strategies that, you as a nurse, can implement to reduce the severity and impact of the disease for the individual and their family? Answer: Osteoarthritis(OA) is also known asdegenerative joint disease, degenerative arthritisoror osteoarthrosis, is a type of abnormalities which involves joints degradation, as well as subchondral bone and articular cartilage.The purpose of the assignment is to develop an instrument so as to assess the difficulties faced by the people in their daily lives due to the Osteoarthritis of the Knee (Biological measurement of osteoarthritis, 1993). The symptoms of the disease and the strategies that I will take as a nurse are highlighted in the assignment. Pathophysiology Osteoarthritis (OA) is considered a progressive joint disease and causes disability. It can occur to people of any age especially who are 45 years and above are more likely to be affected by the disease. The Arthritis Foundation says that that more than 27 million people living in the United States are have the chances of having osteoarthritis, where the knee is more likely area to be affected area. It was also seen that the women are more prone to osteoarthritis than the men. The disease is characterized by the loss of the arterial cartilage, subchondral sclerosis of the bone, formation of osteophyte and cysts. The remodeling of the subchondral bone plays an important role in the OA Pathophysiology (14 Evaluating pain in osteoarthritis, 2005). It is often called Osteoprotegerin (OPG). As the draining down of the hyaline cartilage progresses, hypertrophic changes can occur in the synovial tissue and also the underlying bone with which can form sclerosis and osteophyte. This often lea ds to narrowing of space of the joints and joint surface become rough and irregular which ultimately causes pain, and swelling in the joint deformity (Biological measurement of osteoarthritis, 1993). Symptoms The symptoms of the disease are severe pain in the knee, with dysfunction and discomfort in the area. Thus it can be said that the pain is the initial symptom of the disease. Osteoarthritis causes pain in the knee area and reduces the motion of the person affecting the quality of life. As time passes, the condition of the knee detoriate. There is no definite treatment for the disease, and it is managed by the controlling the pain and preserving the function of the affected area (Knee taping reduces symptoms associated with osteoarthritis, 2003). The control of the life style, changes in the diet, exercises, and the use of medication and orthosis can control the pain and improve the condition to some extent. In extreme stages it can be seen that the only possible way out is knee replacement. Treatment and care by nurses It can be said that the task of the nurses is to control the pain of the knee and the joint and to promote the quality of the life of the people who are suffering from the disease. As a nurse I can help the people by guiding them and letting them know the signs and symptoms of the disease. They can be guided with education so that they can take care of themselves in case of need by doing simple exercises (Ringdahl, Erika and Pandit, 2011). The nurses instruct the patients reduce their weight and use devices that can be used to support their walking like a walker or a walking stick. I as a nurse can encourage the people in active participation to control the progress of the disease. The nurses can teach the patients exercises and the use of various aid which will help the people to keep their knees in the state of motion (gutierrez, 2013). Moreover physiotherapy can help the people to reduce the level of pain and improvements can be seen. The nurses can follow up the medication prescr ibed by the doctors and monitor the improvements and also can implement new exercises if it is necessary. References 14 Evaluating pain in osteoarthritis. (2005).Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 13, pp.S5-S5. Biological measurement of osteoarthritis. (1993).Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 1(1), pp.21-21. gutierrez, L. (2013). Improvement of symptoms in the generalized osteoarthritis use of zoledronic acid zola study.Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 21, p.S293. Knee taping reduces symptoms associated with osteoarthritis. (2003).BMJ, 327(7407), pp.0-c-0. Ringdahl, Erika, and Pandit, S. (2011). Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis.American Family Physician, 83(11), pp.1287-1292.