What Is a Meniscus Tear and Why It Matters for Knee Health
A meniscus tear is a common injury in daily life that can severely impact mobility—yet it doesn’t have to lead to a wheelchair. Located in the knee, the meniscus is a fibro-cartilage structure with a triangular cross-section that separates the femur’s condyle from the tibial surface. Housed within the knee joint cavity, the meniscus acts as a shock absorber, supports smooth walking, and protects the condylar site from abnormal wear. Each knee contains two menisci: the medial meniscus and the lateral meniscus, each with varying degrees of vascularization and healing potential.
Meniscal injuries, importance and understanding:
The lesions may be an asymptomatic type, age-related, a degenerative injury to the meniscus or an acute trauma of benign type due to a wrong move or a ligament rupture."Normal" asymptomatic lesions appear most often in people of fifties in a form of benign pain that comes gradually. Depending on the nature of tearing the only possible outcome in the case of a total blockage of the knee is a surgical procedure that will remove part of the meniscus. A meniscectomy will soften down the discomfort and restore knees function. In cases where the discomfort is present and there is no blocking knee , studies have clearly shown that there was no difference between undertaking surgery and undertaking rehabilitation exercises [1]. One mayreasonablyaskwhether in the long term this type of surgery may be the cause of early onset osteoarthritis . The menisci function is no longer guaranteed by shock absorber, osteoarthritis appears to be inevitable.
The most vulnerable people with asymptomatic lesions are obviously people nutritionally deficient in vitamin c, smokers, daily drinkers, depressive and stressed people, manual workers, sportsmen and people practicing sport regularly who during their life have undergone micro trauma [2]. At a more advanced age of their life, these injuries are irreversible, the disease sets in, it is the beginning of osteoarthritis.
During the past year studies have advanced in this direction. A causal link clearly shows that low vitamin C levels plasma are present on subjects with osteoarthritis compared to the rest of the normal population . It is important to note that taking vitamin C helps to reduce pain associated with osteoarthritis and provides a beneficial effect in the primary stage of the disease. So there is a correlation factor between the need to maintain plasma levels of vitamin c to high levels in the blood, preservation and rebuilding of the cartilage [3]. To date, only Liposomal vitamin C helps maintain high levels of vitamin C throughout the day. This is a major breakthrough that will postpone the setting up of the disease and the placement of an implant.
REFERENCES:
[1] : Surgery versus Physical Therapy for a Meniscal Tear and Osteoarthritis. N Engl J Med. 2013 May 2; 368(18): 1675–1684.
[2] : Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons:October 2005 - Volume 13 - Issue 6 - p 407–416. Orthopaedic Care of the Aging Athlete Chen, Andrew L. MD; Mears, Simon C. MD, PhD; Hawkins, Richard J. MD
[3] : Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861. Volume 4, Issue 1 (Jan.- Feb. 2013), PP 10-14.A comparative study between Plasma vitamin c level and severity of knee osteoarthritis.Dr. Subhrajyoti Naskar1, Dr. Indranil Dawn2, Dr Susmita Sarkar3, Dr.Chinmoy De4, Dr. Gouranga Biswas
