Osteoarthritis (Waja-UL-Mafasil) and Its Management

Osteoarthritis(OA) is a disease in which all structures of the joint have undergone pathologic change, often in concert. The pathologic sine qua non of disease is hyaline articular cartilage loss, present in a focal and initially, non-uniform manner. This is accompanied by increasing thickness and sclerosis of the subchondral bony plate, by outgrowth of osteophytes at the joint margin, stretching of the articular capsule, mild synovitis in many affected joints and weakness of joint-bridging muscles. OA at global level is accounting for 3.0% of total Years lived with disability (YLD).In Unani literature, osteoarthritis is described under the broad entity of Waj-ul-Mafasil which involves entire joint disorders. Waj-ul-Mafasil is a term used for pain, inflammations, accumulations, depositions and other disorders of joints.Treatment of OA is only palliative, as there is no curative therapy available yet and also there are studies suggesting role of antioxidants in the prevention or at least in prevention of progression of osteoarthritis.The herbal drugs have been extensively and successfully used for treatment of various ailments including arthritis.