Saint Lucia celebrates World Arthritis Day

Castries, Saint Lucia: Saint Lucia honoured World Arthritis Day on October 12, 2023, under the theme, “Living with an RMD (rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease) at all stages of life”.

World Arthritis Day is celebrated every year on October 12 since 1996 to spread awareness about this disease and to guide people about its impact on one’s health and its ways of prevention and management.

The employees of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs wore “Blue” in honour of World Arthritis Day.

Activities of Arthritis Awareness Campaign:

Saint Lucia inaugurated the arthritis awareness activities on Thursday at the St. Benedict Parish, Morne Fortune.

SLMDA talk show Healthwise was a main highlight of the Arthritis held on Wednesday, October 11 2023.

On Thursday, October 19 and October 26, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs invites people to join “Get Moving for Arthritis-Sneaker Thursday” by wearing sneakers along with something blue.

Details of Arthritis disease:

Arthritis is a non-communicable disease which can impact one’s life and lead to disorder. This is not only one disease; however, it is associated with more than 100 types of Arthritis. The most general types of Arthritis are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid.

Osteoarthritis: 

Osteoarthritis includes damage to a joint’s cartilage, which can result in restriction of movement. Cartilage supports the end of the bones and helps in frictionless joint motion. This can also damage the connective tissue that supports muscle to bone and clutch the joint together. As a consequence, the joint lining was swollen and puffed up.

Rheumatoid:

Rheumatoid Arthritis affects the immune system, which infects the lining of the joint capsule that supports all the joint parts. In due course, this disease destroys bone and cartilage inside the joint.

The most common symptoms of Arthritis are:

• Stiffness and joint pain
• Decreased range of motion
• Incapable of normal movement of the body
• Redness
• Swelling

Risk Factors: Arthritis is likely to be transmitted from family, gender or any other previous joint injury. Arthritis can especially be seen in sports players who have injured a joint while playing a game.

Prevention of Arthritis:

Arthritis can be preventable or non-preventable. Preventable Arthritis includes-

– Healthy diet

– Healthy weight

– Regular exercise

– Safe sex practices

– Avoid alcohol consumption and smoking