Introduction
The hip in vertebrate anatomy refers to an anatomical region or a joint. Also known as Coxa in medical terminology, the hip is located overlying the greater trochanter (this is known as the “thigh bone”), lateral to the gluteal region (the gluteal region is known as the buttock) and inferior to the iliac crest. The hip bone is made out of three combined bones for adults. The hip joint is one of the most important parts of the body because it has many purposes. One would be that it is the most used bone in walking, running or standing (it supports the weight of the body) and also it has the primary importance in retaining balance (because of the pelvic inclination angle, the human body posture is adjusted; this pelvic angle is given and adjusted by use of the hip joint). Being a part of the human body, this also makes it vulnerable to hip diseases. Hip diseases are affections of the hip joints, most common in aged people due to the weakening of the joint. Let’s see which the most common hip diseases are.
Osteoarthritis
The most common hip diseases in the world contain the osteoarthritis. It affects millions of people, mostly old men, by causing the cartilage surrounding the joints to disintegrate, thus causing pain and stiffness. Nowadays surgery is one of the available treatments for hip diseases, by changing certain parts of the human body with medical equipment. Besides surgery there isn’t any cure to reverse the disease in form of medication, but certain precautions can be made though. Dealing with pain, loss of weight (it will prolong the longevity of the hip joints) are a few good precautions.
Inflammatory arthritis
The term arthritis basically means inflammation of the joints. There are several types of inflammatory arthritis, but the one affecting the hip joints is the Rheumatoid arthritis. This disease affects about 1% of the world’s population and it can be spotted through several symptoms such as joint pain, joint inflammation or distort. The process produces an inflammation of the capsule around the joints, secondary to swelling of the synovial cells, excess of the synovial fluid and the development of fibrous tissue. The disease’s pathology leads to the destruction of the articular cartilage and to ankylosis of the joints.
Avascular necrosis
Avascular necrosis (also known as osteonecrosis or AVN) is a disease which usually involves the hip joint. The end result of this disease is that the head of the femur (also known as the “ball” of the hip) can collapse or can be completely deteriorated and can collapse. The process that develops the avascular necrosis is a decrease of blood flow to a part of the femur bone, which can lead to complete cessation of blood flow. If the bone stops receiving the amount of blood needed it will die and start a series of chemical processes. As the process continues, the bone is weakened and will finally collapse. When this occurs the body will try to digest it resulting in severe pain and limited motion.
