Why Arthritis more common among women
Senior Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital and Parkway East Hospital Dr. Gurpal Singh was in Sri Lanka on the invitation of Parkway Patient Assistance Centre Colombo to deliver speeches on Evolution of Orthopaedic Oncology and development of Musculossketal Oncology, This lecture was organised by Parkway Cancer Centre, Singapore and the Sri Lanka College of Oncologists and Sri Lanka Orthopaedic Association. He was the guest of honour at the 14th Annual Academic sessions inaugural ceremony and delivered the oration on ‘’How Evolution of Advanced surgical techniques have enabled complex nervous and vascular reconstruction’ Excerpts
(Q) Do you think joint replacements is a successful method?
Materials used in joint replacements underlie strict quality testing and are well characterised
It is a fact even the best joint replacement is not as good as a young and healthy joint. once a joint replacement fails, a repair surgery is needed to remove the failed implant components and introduce new implants This is a complex surgery than the primary surgery. One of the factors limiting the life span of joint replacement is implant wear/ coupling of bearing surfaces. As a result the companies around the world are constantly working on improving implant materials. Only the test of lime will be able to confirm the success of new techniques and materials.
(Q) Your lecture on Development of Musculosketal Oncology as a sub-speciality in Sri Lanka at the College of Surgeons Auditorium? What is Musculosketal oncology?
(A) Musculosketal oncology is a field within Orthopaedic surgery that is focussed on diagnosis and management of benign (non cancerous) and Malignant cancerous tumours of bone and soft tissues. This also includes patients who have cancer that has widely spread all over the bones.
(Q) Arthritis is common in Sri Lanka. What are the key causes?
(A) Osteoarthritis is very common form of arthritis ‘wear and tear ’ of the cartilage covering joint surface and basically refers to degenerative changes in the whole joint pain stiffness and limb deformity
(Q) What is the exact cause of osteoarthritis?
(A) Despite being so prevalent among men and women the exact cause is still not known. Some of the risk factors include advanced age, females, obesity, previous joint injures, repeated stress on the joint, genetic, limb deformities and some causes are due to metabolic diseases.
(Q) How to overcome these risk factors?
(A) X-rays are usually sufficient in advanced Osteoarthritis. In early stages MRI is strongly recommended – (MRI is Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
(Q) Are there any surgical treatments for arthritis?
(A) Yes there are several non surgical treatments for arthritis. Surgery is the only last resort. Less invasive measures such as activity modification, physiotherapy and medication are recommended. Injections recommended if symptoms do not improve or if pain becomes worst surgery is the only alternative.
(Q) Why Arthritis more common among women?
(A) Yes medical history suggests that women are affected by oesteoarthritis than men This might be due to sex specific differences in both the presence and relative risk of other several risk factors. (Body mass index) a modifiable risk factor impacts women more strongly.
(Q) Early signs of Osteoarthritis?
(A) Stiffness of the joint, pain, climbing up and down staircase, getting up from a chair. Some also experience joint swelling.
(Q) Is there any evidence to prove haphazard use of exercise machines or vigorous workout led to more Orthopaedic injuries?
(A) Exercise has many health benefits. If haphazardly carried out it can entail exercise related injuries. Better to get a health check up done by a good doctor prior to an exercise regime.
(Q) Common Orthopaedic sports injuries?
(A) Sport injuries are very common in the Orthopaedic clinic. People suffer from meniscus and ligament injuries. In fact physiotherapy has a very important role to play for all patients with sports injuries. Surgically there are various techniques that can be used to fix sports injuries.
Dr. Gurpal Singh has a long standing connections with many Orthopaedic surgeons from Sri Lanka. He has visited Sri Lanka for teaching purposes for more than ten years.
The Annual Meeting of the Sri Lanka Orthopaedic Association has a focus on training and an it is also an exchange programs and Dr. Singh is truly impressed by the commitment of young Orthopaedic surgeons in Sri Lanka to enhance their knowledge and surgical skills.
The latest treatment methods available at Singapore Parkway Hospital for Orthopaedic conditions include robotic surgery for patients suffering from arthritis of state of arts imaging facilities, computerised scan is another popular method For tumour patients, proton beam therapy, a novel mode of radiation therapy is now available.There is strict auditing to ensure sthe quality of drugs used. Most importantly doctors from various specialities work closely as to allow decision making for patients on a case by case basis.
