Like 45 million other Americans, my father suffers from arthritis, the inflammation of the joints. By the dawn of the new millennium, as more baby boomers hit their 50s, it is estimated that one in five Americans will be to some degree debilitated by this insidious disease. Many, like my father, will be hunters and fishermen who have finally reached a point in their lives when they are free to enjoy their passions, only to discover that the simple acts of walking, shouldering a shotgun, or casting a rod are accompanied by stiffness or such excruciating pain as to rob them of their enjoyment of the sport. Although arthritis takes more than 100 forms, the vast majority of people suffer from osteoarthritis, characterized by the degeneration of shock-absorbing cartilage within the joints, typically the hands, hips, knees, neck, or spine. This results in rough ends of bones rubbing against each other, producing inflammation.
Many people assume such deterioration is a natural process of aging.
They think that little can be done beyond swallowing traditionally prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen, which offer only limited relief and often induce uncomfortable side effects like headaches, heartburn, dizziness, nausea, abdominal bleeding, kidney damage, and ulcers. So prevalent is a fatalistic attitude toward arthritis that fewer than half the people who suffer chronic joint pain ever seek medical advice. This is unfortunate, for over the past few years great strides have been made in the treatment and prevention of this disease. If you feel pain in your joints that persists for more than a couple weeks or returns periodically, seek a medical opinion. Don't delude yourself into thinking that you're too young to get arthritis.