The doctor explains the habit that should be included in your daily routine to prevent osteoarthritis: “It has been proven” – Sports in A Coruña

One in four adults in Spain suffers from a rheumatic disease. To find out in detail how these pathologies affect everyday life and what we can do to avoid them, at Fin de Semana we spoke with Dr. Marcos Paulino Huertas, head of the department of rheumatology at the General University Hospital of Ciudad Real. and President of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology.
“Rheumatologists are used to people coming in and telling us what hurts them. And indeed, in these times of change, people perceive it better. Often they will tell you that the weather will change, they even predict it in a couple of days. .” changes.
It seems that there may be changes in the joint receptors when pressure changes occur, when thunderstorms occur or when the weather changes,” the doctor began to explain.
Regarding the pain we experience, he explains when we should be concerned: “When you have pain at the skeletal level, in the joints, and you haven’t hit yourself or done anything to make it happen, there’s obviously some small problem going on.
What happens is that these are often trivial, non-specific pains that are also of little significance. The main problem is that when the pain persists, once it appears, it does not go away, and if the joint becomes inflamed, it appears hot, red, and swollen. “So at this point it is clear that you need to go to your GP, who will consider referring you to a rheumatologist.”
At this point, the doctor explained the differences between some of the most common rheumatic diseases, as he claims there are “more than 200 different ones.”
“We always say that rheumatism does not exist. This is a very common term, but in fact there are rheumatic diseases.
Osteoarthritis is the most common of these. This is a disease caused by wear or degeneration of cartilage in joints.
And then you have many other rheumatic diseases. You have arthritis that already has an inflammatory component, they are much more aggressive, they normally have an immunological component, that is, an autoimmune disease occurs.
The other is osteoporosis, the loss of bone mass, said to be calcium in the bones, which is more common in women after menopause.
We have lupus, among the autoimmune diseases, which is a very complex disease, or gout, for example, which was traditionally associated with people who consumed excessive amounts of alcohol or certain foods, and which later turned out not to be.”
A pathology that affects many people in Spain: “In our country, 11 million people are affected, that is, one in four adults in Spain suffers from a rheumatic disease.
It is a mistake to associate them only with older people. Many inflammatory diseases begin in people aged 25, 30 and 40 years. That is, people who are in a lifestyle that is active and has a noticeable impact on their social, work and personal lives. And that’s something we have to take into account.”
Finally, he explained some habits that we can include in our daily routine to avoid this type of pathology or cope with it in the best possible way: “We recommend practicing exercises, exercises adapted and appropriate to your disease, your pain and limitations.
Exercise has been shown to reduce the discomfort experienced by the patient by releasing anti-inflammatory substances. In addition, it will improve our muscle mass and increase bone mass, the amount of calcium in the bones.
Of course, avoid smoking. Tobacco has been proven to worsen almost all rheumatic diseases. Have good oral health because in many cases, bacteria in the mouth can contribute to this type of disease, or at least the autoimmune inflammatory type.
And then follow the Mediterranean diet, the only diet studied in the world that has been shown to be effective in preventing or controlling this type of disease.”