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The word arthritis is a generic term and encompasses many different types of conditions of the joint.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and is present in 20% or 1 in 5 dogs over one year of age. When the term arthritis is used it will generally refer to OA, which is also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD).
Arthritis is a slow progressive disorder of one or more joints. It involves the deterioration of normal chemical and physical processes. Those processes affected by arthritis include;
Arthritis typically leads to pain, lameness, joint inflammation and reduced mobility, resulting in a reduced quality of life.
The diagram below provides a comparison of a normal joint and a joint affected by arthritis.
Contributing factors to arthritis
The key contributing factors to arthritis include
Arnoldi CC (1996) Development from osteoarthritis and nontraumatic osteonecrosis to osteoarthrosis. ARCO Newsletter 8(1):4-27
Francis DJ, Hutadilok N, Kongtawelert P, Ghosh P (1993) Pentosan polysulphate and glycosaminoglycan polysulphate stimulate the synthesis of hyaluronan in vivo. Rheumatol Int 13:61-64
Hegemann N, Kohn B, Brunnberg L, Schmidt MF (2002) Biomarkers of joint tissue metabolism in canine osteoarthritic and arthritic joint disorders. Osteoarthritis Cart. 10, 714-721
McLaughlin R (2000) Management of chronic osteoarthritic pain. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice 30, 933-949