occurrence of degenerative joint disease in the radius: analysis

diarthrodial joints.” In the human body, the major joints
usually affected most frequently and most severely are the knee,
hip, elbow, and shoulder. Commonly, DJD is subclassified into
two categories, primary or secondary. Primary (80%) refers to
no other cause being evident in the expression of DJD.
Secondary (20%) is when the joint is altered by some other
disease or event (Aufderheide and Rodriguez-Martin, 1998).
DJD, is also referred to in the literature as
osteoarthritis, hypertrophic arthritis, or degenerative
arthropathy (Aufderheide and Rogriquez-Martin, 1998). The focus
of numerous research projects, DJD continues to be characterized
by an extremely diverse etiology, making it difficult for a
consensus to be reached (Jurmain, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1990;
Ortner, 1966; Radin, 1993; Sokoloff, 1969). Consequently,
degenerative joint disease is classified as a non-specific
disease, meaning it is not caused by one single disease causing
agent or factor, but rather from a conglomeration of different
factors.
A common misnomer is to relate DJD directly to old age.
Although age is a predisposing factor, and older people are more
likely to show more degeneration of joints and joint surfaces,
sometimes the opposite is true. Juveniles have also been known
to show severe degenerative pathology while older adults show no
signs at all (Jurmain, 1977).
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