Women's Health Blog

Women who are in the post menopausal stage are the most common victims of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease wherein the bone gets a lower density. It is a result of decreasing strength and making it weaker, more fragile and brittle. Osteoporosis leads the bone to have an abnormally in feature and shape. The bone will soon be like a sponge that can easily break and prone to bone fractures.

Our bones are made up of calcium, collagen and protein; that is why not having enough supply of these components to our bones will result to some bone injuries like fractures, bone collapse and bone cracks.

Osteoporosis can be present on our body without noticing any symptoms. Some, for decades, osteoporosis cannot be detected until you have experienced bone fracture and bone injury. In order to detect if we have osteoporosis, a bone density measure will help. The most popular way of detecting bone problems is the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry or the DXA. It will investigate the potential cause of some sort of bone cracking. Blood tests and additional X-rays are done for further testing depending on the situation whether the patient is prone to develop cancer, multiple myeloma, Cushing’s disease and other bone related problems.

In order to prevent osteoporosis, change in lifestyle is very important. Good eating habits, having a well balanced meal and a regular exercise is better. The number one thing to consider is to stop smoking and also a limitation of the alcohol intake. These two killer vices can add and worsen the problem if not taken seriously. Taking Calcium and vitamin D supplements will help you to gain the things needed by the bones. As an adult, our body needs to take 1 gram of Calcium every day. Those who are on their late fifties are recommended to take 1.2 grams of Calcium every day to regain the lost Calcium from their body. Calcium is more effective to promote stronger bones if and when it is accompanied by Vitamin D. If you take Vitamin D, it increases the absorption of Calcium into the body.

Aside from drinking two times a day of milk every day, one good source of Calcium are the legumes as well as the green and leafy vegetables. They are very common and readily available in the market and groceries everywhere. Calcium is also available in all milk products like cheese. Eating eggs, fish and liver will give you enough Vitamin D that your body needs.

PMS, or premenstrual syndrome, is the culprit that brings pain, discomfort and mood swings to millions of women each month during their menstrual cycles. There are many things that can cause these symptoms, including fluctuations in the hormones estrogen and progesterone, food intolerances, not enough exercise, poor eating habits, or too much alcohol or caffeine. Fortunately, there are many types of therapies out there providing for various remedies and lifestyle changes to help alleviate these problems.

PMS as a medical condition is finally being given credence, which is certainly a good step in the right direction. For so long Western culture has place negative connotations on PMS symptoms, with the widespread belief that such symptoms were purely psychosomatic and should be disregarded and eliminated from the mind to ensure a regular daily existence.

One potential danger that exists with so many ways available now to alleviate the symptoms of PMS is causing it to be unacceptable to experience in the first place. We risk going from one extreme – where society was simply in denial of the validity of this condition – to the other – where complete eradication is a must. This latter approach is a male-generated one, despite the fact that both men and women today are taking this approach. It is mostly men who sell health supplements and dole out dietary advice to alleviate PMS symptoms. How do we fix this new approach while preventing a return to the PMS stereotypes of old?

It is the key to keep in mind what the menstrual cycle represents. It is what enables human beings to create and bring new life into this world. As much as most women dislike having their monthly visitor, it is that visitor that is part of the amazing process of conceiving a child, developing it in the womb and ultimately giving birth. Perhaps if women attribute a more positive viewpoint towards the menstrual experience by being more attuned with their bodies, listening to what their bodies are telling them and responding to it in a positive way based upon what the body is trying to say, the whole experience will become a better one for women and society as a whole.

Western society is a male-dominated one. Male hormones carry a much shorter cycle, typically only 24 hours, versus the female cycle of 28 days. This tends to mean that men’s behavior is perceived as less erratic, more stable, more in control, whereas women are stereotypically perceived as a whirl of emotions, especially during her period. In other words, women are compared to men based upon the male behavior pattern.

In order to break this type of comparison and the societal perceptions towards PMS, it is important for women to become more in tune with their bodies and gain a deeper self-awareness so they are better able to accommodate the changes which occur during their menstrual cycle and make it a less disruptive and more positive experience. This will certainly help women cope with the discomforts and hormonal changes during their period, as well as assist in society’s views and handling of PMS.

Being beautiful outside may not exactly be as beautiful from the inside. It is always better to be aware on what is going on inside our body. Being knowledgeable of the five killer diseases will help us to save ourselves from suffering such diseases.

Heart Attack is known to be the silent killer. It occurs when there’s a blockage formed in the passage area where the blood flows. When the blood is not properly flowing inside the heart, the heart muscle will not have enough supply of oxygen. Heart attacks may be prevented and treated. The treatment would be effective when the patient is brought to the hospital four hours from the onset of its symptoms.

Breast cancer is one of the deadliest diseases of today. This disease is not only bound for women. Men can also have breast cancer. Like the old saying, “Prevention is better than cure”, the best saying for breast cancer is, “early detection is better to keep you live longer“. Breast cancer can be detected by regular breast massage. If you notice and feel something hard and round like a marble, visit your doctor immediately. Take note that not all breast masses are cancerous, but it is better to see your doctor for some diagnostic tests.

Cervical Cancer is next to breast cancer for being dangerous to women’s life. But fortunately, there are cervical cancer vaccines that are readily available nowadays. To prevent cervical cancer, visit your OB doctor for consultation and advice. Vaccines may be expensive but really helps a lot. Also, having a regular pop smear every year after you have sexual intercourse will help you maintain a healthy cervix.

Having ovarian mass cannot be detected easily. This kind of disease is hardly detected. Mostly, it has no signs and symptoms. An ovarian mass may be considered as a benign cyst or a cancerous one. It can grow from 0.1 centimeter to as big as nine months tummy of pregnant mother. Operation is the solution to remove the cyst. After operation, the mass is examined under biopsy to make sure if it is benign or cancerous.

Stroke on the other hand, is not only common in women but also in men.  Possible causes of having stroke are the genetics or familial history and or unhealthy lifestyle. Proper exercise and a well balanced diet with regular visit to your doctor is the best way to prevent stroke.

Aerobic Workouts & Heart Health:

It is a universal fact that there is necessity of performing work outs on a regular basis, helps in maintaining good health. It is worth knowing what are aerobics and their relation in respect of health of the heart. Many persons have an obsession that aerobics is a sure way of remaining and maintaining a healthy lifestyle on a long term basis.

The health and aerobics need to be watched, because besides aerobics there is some thing more also is to be done, regarding which a focus has to be set and acted upon.

Aerobic Workouts Awareness Media Programs:

Aerobics and its related benefits have been discussed widely in press and TV Media besides majority of health awareness related websites do make a mention of aerobics. There is definitely a link between aerobics and heart health, which is going to be a lifelong concern.

In fact aerobic work outs have a number of other benefits also, but the information shall be restricted to heart health only, being the main topic under consideration.

Personal Experiences Primary Guiding Factors:

It can be felt that, more the aerobics workouts are performed, the more is improved in heart health in due course of time. Evidences of personal experiences confirm definite improvement in heart health. It is not based on the general principle, but there is a definite specific relation between the two.

Looking for the relationship between aerobic workouts and heart health the primary reason is that by performing aerobics one is exposing the heart and lungs to additional work resulting into their making fast heart beats and lungs inhaling and exhaling more frequently as compared to the resting phase. During the process of aerobic workouts both heart and lungs move faster and work hard.

Making aerobic workouts as a part of daily practice, now the previously idle heart, is working more making it strong to meet any stresses of life.  One can force ones’ heart to work each day, and this is going to make it healthy and active.

In principle aerobic work outs and heart health have definite relation for the better performance of heart than otherwise.

Meeting Heart Health Objectives:

When the objective is of heart heath improvement, aerobic workouts are the immediate need. It is not a strenuous exercise. It cab be initiated as a warm phase, active phase and slowing down phase so that gradually all the systems come to normal. Aerobic Workouts is something that you can really focus on regularly to keep heart healthy.

Aerobic workouts increase the metabolic rate, which ensures higher utilization of energy available from the food consumed and there is no conversion of excess food as fat deposits in the tissues and circulatory system.

It is necessary that present state of health should be got assessed under the care of a cardiologist after the age of forty, when the decline in hormones secretions causes general laziness and reduction in over all efficiency of a person.

Professional Care of heart Health:

Your cardiologist looking into the present status of health shall advise you the aerobic work outs and guide you the nutrition part necessary to keep the body and it’s system healthy and in perfect working condition.

After the age of forty, it is advisable that the person should be at regular intervals in touch with his doctor so that any internal heart health problem can be detected early. The problem noticed can be rectified by following the advice given.

Women who view dark side of every thing in their life are more prone to suffer from a heart disease as compared to women, who remain positively tuned to the happenings in life and always trust some one instead of treating with doubtful manner. This observation has been made by researchers and reported in various medical journals.

The Differential Factor in Women:

In women the declining sex hormones after the age of 40 are cause of great adjustment problems as well as affecting heart health. Diminishing hormones are also responsible for causing cancers or genital organs and are responsible for the ill health.

Decline in hormones are also responsible for triggering certain psychological misunderstandings faced by them at the family front during their postmenopausal phase. While dealing with postmenopausal problems the psychological factor has also to be looked into. The situation can be greatly improved, by understanding the social factors and accepting, the present situation instead of remaining in the past and spoiling the present.

Role of Optimism in Good Health:

In a scientific study optimism presented by the participant women was assessed by their response to a designed questionnaire to elicit the necessary information by their general behavior statements in different situations encountered by women in day to day life and their interaction responses.

The questionnaire had certain standardized statements to which, they were required to respond, whether they were in agreement to the statement or not agreeing. The responses obtained were examined and necessary scoring done following a standard pattern.

The observation was that if the score in terms of optimism is around 25 percent. The chance of getting a heart attack was lower by 9 % and death to other causes shall be 14 % lower as compared to optimism score below 25 %. In contrast women, who had higher pessimistic tendency, had 16 % more chances of dying as compared to normal group.

On the count of optimism or pessimism the results equally apply to men and women. There have to be certain factors, which interact in a given situation and result into a predictable behavior patterns and uniformity in responses produced and affecting the human being in a uniform manner irrespective of other variable factors like age, sex, caste or creed of the individual. The quality of optimism is usually found in individuals, having high bracket income and they do not have to stretch harder for earning income to comfortably make their two ends meet.

Daily life schedule encounters three variations of possibilities having relation to the life style of the individual:

• Women good in maintaining optimistic views had a very stable health risk status.
• Had lower High Blood Pressure, Diabetes history, usually they do not smoke and included moderate exercise in their daily routines.
• The lower Health Risk Factors can be assumed to be on account of their higher life style status.

Another positive finding is that optimist women have great chances to consult their doctor from time to time and follow their advice rigidly without deviation. They also take care of the good balanced nutrition in their diet.

Role of Attitude in Good health:

Optimistic women have better attitudes towards their life’s achievements and expectations. In such a trial pessimistic patients are also included in the group and the attempt is to change their feelings and resulting effect recorded by the team of doctors in agreement with their feelings

All kind of possibilities were considered in the controlled group study by including wide variety of patients depicting pessimism and without any discrimination attempt was made to allow effective changes in their thinking and observed any change in their health.

Conclusive Observations:

The observations confirmed that even the most difficult persons responded in a positive manner and reacted to the suggestions made and experienced good health benefits.

The conclusion of the study is that remaining optimistic is the key to keeping good health. There is a definite relation between the mind and body systems making it clear if your mind is clear of negative thoughts body gets opportunity keep it self healthy.

High blood pressure does not have any definite cause, but some of following factors in combination can cause hypertension termed as essential hypertension.

• Overweight or Obesity.
• Sedentary Life Style.
• Tobacco users
• Excessive Sodium intake or Low Potassium intake.
• Stressful life style.
• Alcohol consumption.
• With the advancing Age risk of hypertension increases.
• Family history.

Secondary Hypertension:

Certain Disorders cause High blood pressure like Kidney disorders, imbalance of      hormone secretion, thyroid and adrenal gland disease. Certain drugs also cause hypertension like oral contraceptives.

High Blood Pressure Measuring:

High Blood Pressure is also called hypertension. The normal blood pressure reading is 120/80 mm of Mercury. The first number mentioned in blood pressure measuring is the systolic pressure and second number is diastolic pressure.

Patients in the pre-hypertension stage have diastolic blood pressure within range of 120-139 and systolic pressure ranges 80-89.  It is called silent blood pressure the person does not experience any symptoms for years and hence they are not aware they are suffering from blood pressure.

High Blood Pressure Symptoms

Symptoms of High blood pressure are felt only when it crosses the pre hypertension ranges mentioned above. The common symptoms like Dizziness or dizzy spells, Headaches and Nose bleeding are exhibited by high blood pressure patient.

Diet Control in Hypertensive Persons:

It is possible to do lowering of Blood Pressure by natural means or take medicines prescribed by your doctors depending on the severity of the disease. Any way the blood pressure must be kept under control.

At the first place it becomes very necessary that one should eat a diet with low value of fat and cholesterol content in it. This is the best available option with you to keep blood pressure under control. One should include healthy food in one’s diet. Blood pressure varies on a daily basis depending on the type of food you eat. By just avoiding heavy foods eating to some extent blood pressure gets reduced.

It has a real importance to start taking healthy food immediately and continue on taking without a break. If one had the habit of taking unhealthy food in the past, it shall take a little longer time to feel the effects of healthy food. One should not give up healthy food shall keep you comfortable as well as blood pressure lowering also shall get noticed.

Role of Physical Exercise in Hypertension:

Besides keeping a control on the diet front, it is also necessary that one should include regular exercise in ones’ schedule. The exercise of preference is the one which increases the heart movement. Before starting exercise, it is a necessary that hearth health is got checked from your doctor and take his opinion regarding exercise intensity and duration.

There can be a situation that you are taking healthy food and also participating in exercises, still blood pressure is not getting reduced. Such a possibility can be, if the body has been abused by taking diet rich in fats and cholesterol and there has been absence of physical exercise.

Another situation of high blood pressure can be due to presence a disease causing high blood pressure. Healthy diet and physical exercise should be kept continued besides taking the medication advised by your doctor. It is necessary also that at a regular interval blood pressure is measured and the dosage of the medication adjusted as per the advice of your doctor.

Besides medication, there are other natural ways placed under alternative therapy to reduce the blood pressure like acupuncture and massaging causing significant reduction of blood pressure.

Use of Garlic Extract, Hawthorn Herb, Fish Oil and Folic Acid has been found to help in stabilizing moderate blood pressure in patients.

Once one is suffering from blood pressure, it is absolutely necessary that blood pressure remains under control, which otherwise has damaging effects to the vessels of eyes, kidneys etc.

Pro Bacteria Environment:

The oral cavity harbors millions of bacteria, located at the back of the tongue responsible for causing bad breath. Moreover the warmth, moisture and food rich environment is most suitable for bacterial growth, which produces bad breath.

In certain situations bad smell is normal and do not result into disease. As an example the morning mouth, which one experiences changes during sleep. During day time saliva secretion mobilizes decaying food and odor.

Causes of Bad Breath:

At night the saliva secretion is greatly diminished causing dryness of mouth dead cells are sticking on the tongue and inner surface of cheeks. The bacteria thrive on these dead cells emanating bad smelling odor.

Besides above bad breath is caused by Poor dental hygiene care allowing decay of food particles in mouth cavity.

Bad Practices:

A number of persons suffer from Halitosis commonly known as bad breath and they are not well informed about its corrective measures. There are basically three causes of bad breath as given below:

1 – Eating foods having strong odor:

Onions, garlic, fish and peanut butter are very strong smelling food items.

After their consumption, a portion of these foods remain sticking on the surface

of oral cavity, generating strong bad breath of temporary nature.

2 – Not Maintaining Good Oral hygiene:

After eating food, the teeth are to be brushed in a proper manner.

Perform flossing and gargling with mouth wash.  It is necessary to curb bad breath.

3 – Following  dental conditions can cause Bad Breath:

Presence of a gum disease, cancer in oral cavity, teeth cavities and presence of bacterial growth on the tongue mucosa combine to generate foul smell. A help of the dentist is required to rectify such conditions.

Bad breath can be due to Infections present in mouth cavity like following gum diseases and other disorders:

• Reddened or swelling of gums, which start bleeding on brushing or flossing.
• Presence of Pus in between teeth or abscess at base of a tooth.
• Loosening of teeth or a change in how a denture fits.
• Painful, open sores on the tongue or gums

• Infections of Respiratory tract i.e. Throat, sinus or lungs.
• Consuming items having strong odor like Garlic, onion, coffee, smoking, tobacco chewing.
• Dry mouth or Xerostomia due to salivary gland disorder, medicinal effect or habit of mouth breathing.
• Systemic Diseases like Diabetes, diseases of liver, kidney, lungs, sinus, reflux effect etc.
• Psychiatric illness: Few persons start believing that they are having bad breath not noticed by others. The condition is known as pseudohalitosis.

Losing the Sense of Bad Smell:

Odor detection by cells of the nose after prolonged bad odor get accustomed to bad smell and it becomes a normal for the person emitting foul smell, which other persons feel and act to avoid face to face talking.

Suggested Corrective Measures:

• Regular brushing even the tongue, flossing and antiseptic gargles and cleaning by the dentist is necessary to correct otherwise difficult bad breath.

• The process of chewing of gums helps to reduce the bad breath, because mouth remains moist combined with tooth paste application or applying oral hygiene preparations to stop long standing bad breath problem.

• Bad breath produces a smell, which is not liked by the persons with whom you are talking causing avoidance by the other person. Bad breath can recur and lasts longer if not corrected.

Our hair is what we call our crown glory. It makes a sudden change in your appearance every time you change your hair fashion. But how will it be your crown glory if you are suffering from hair loss?

Hair loss is a condition when men or women are encountering sudden hair fall. Clinical studies proved that 65% cases suffering from hair loss are women rather than men. Meaning, hair loss is more severe in women compared to men; but luckily, hair loss resulting to total baldness are cases that often occur in men rather than in women.

There are a lot of causes to be considered why women are having hair loss problems. First common reason why women suffered from hair loss is having a baby. Usually, it takes three months until they will notice that their hair strands are falling. This is because of the hormones during their pregnancy. When the hormones are back to its normal level, the hair fall stops then a normal cycle growth begins.

Another cause of hair loss is because of the effects of medicines to your body. Some medicines that cause hair loss are the blood thinners or also called as anticoagulants, medicines for gout problems that lower blood pressure, medicines for heart diseases, some oral contraceptives, antidepressants, and too much intake of Vitamin A. Sometimes, hair loss may occur because of some diseases like lupus or diabetes. Always remember that hair loss may be the first sign of a disease. Seeking help from health experts may have an effective way to treat these kinds of diseases and could stop hair loss.

Third, hair loss can also be a result of too much stress and pressures at work. Stress could be physical and psychological. Thinking too much of problems may cause hair loss. It is better to rest for a while and relax your mind.

Fourth, hormones have a contributing factor why women are suffering from hair loss. Your may have hair loss if your thyroid gland are not working as well as if it is working too much. Loss of hair occurs when hormones like estrogens and androgens are not balanced. Making ways to make it balance will stop your problem in hair loss.

Lastly, improper care of the hair also causes hair loss. Wearing pigtails or using tight hair accessories may result to hair loss. Pulling your hair tight will cause the scarring of your scalp. If this happens, it will lead to permanent hair loss or baldness.

You are excited to be pregnant and having a baby. You start planning already and wonder if you will have a sweet little girl and a sports-playing boy. And then, the worst thing imaginable happens: you have a miscarriage. Now what? Having a miscarriage is an incredibly difficult experience on women and couples. It is both a physical and emotional experience. It also is incredibly difficult to be pregnant for weeks, or even months, and then, all of a sudden, not pregnant. There are many questions that many women and couples want answers to after suffering a miscarriage: Why did I have a miscarriage? Did I cause this to happen and could I have prevented this? When can I start trying to get pregnant again?

Although it is not widely known, single miscarriages are relatively common, with approximately 20-30% of all pregnancies ending in miscarriage, typically prior to reaching 12 weeks. The incidence of having multiple miscarriages is significantly lower, with just 1% of women having three or more miscarriages. Typically, after suffering a miscarriage a doctor will not do much as far as treatment, unless you are determined to suffer from recurrent miscarriages. Otherwise, it is pretty unlikely you will suffer from another miscarriage so trying to conceive again without additional treatment is recommended.

Despite this type of advice, there are some things you can do following a miscarriage prior to your attempts to conceive again. In doing so, you may end up being able to conceive more quickly and have a better chance at preventing a second miscarriage.

One thing you can do is see your doctor and ask if there are any blood tests that they can take in your situation. Some such tests which may be relevant are thyroid disorders, clotting disorders, or any potential genetic disorders. Another thing you can do is see if your diet and/or lifestyle could use an overhaul of any kind. Keep toxins out of your diet and environment, and be aware of the environment around you.

Making sure to keep your hormones stabilized is also a key in helping conceive and avoid miscarriages. If your periods are not on a regular cycle, getting your hormones normalized may be necessary. You can do such things as improve your diet, exercise regularly, modify your lifestyle as necessary (such as quit smoking and get plenty of sleep), and reduce stress to assist in this endeavor.

You might also want to consider being tested for various genitor-urinary infections. Although many doctors may not consider this discussing preparing for pregnancy or prevention of miscarriages, it has been found that such infections have had an impact on many miscarriages. Nobody wants to ever have to go through a miscarriage. So it is important to remember that your body needs to be in the best condition possible before becoming pregnant so that it can see this amazing life all the way to the birth day.

Around 50 % of the world population suffers from Arthritis in their life span. It is more commonly afflicted in comparison to a cancer and heart diseases. The occurrence of arthritis dates back more than one thousand years. The world record confirms that among all the painful conditions, arthritis ranks highest and the sufferers consume billions of dollars worth analgesics to relieve their pain.

The well known Roman baths were initiated not only for hygiene considerations, it provided help people in ancient times to relieve the pain from arthritis.

Arthritis and its Causes:

Arthritis occurs in following two forms:

1. Rheumatoid Arthritis:

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a disorder, where the body mistakes in    attacking and damaging it’s on cells causing internal damage to the joints resulting into dysfunction and deformities.

1. Oste-oartharitis:

Osteoarthritis is a result of wearing and tearing of joint surfaces, which are lined by a cartilage, a soft tissue and has a shock absorbing function protecting the underlying bone ends. When the cartilage experiences wear and tear, there is difficulty in the mobility of the joint with pain and swelling further worsening the situation.

The major cause of osteoartharitis is aging, diet considerations and     lifestyle factors.

The Shock Absorbing Effect:

The tissue lining joint surfaces is cartilage, which renders the function of shock absorbing during movements. The cartilage tissue is composed of water held by protein fibers known as collagen. The collagen matrix is responsible for cartilage structure and strengthening. It is surrounded by a network of proteglucans, which is filled with fluid providing protection from damage, besides nourishing the cartilage tissue.

Proteglucans are made of long molecular chains, which include chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine. These two substances are vital building blocks.

Glucosamine is highly necessary for the making of water holding proteins of cartilage, whereas chondroitin sulfates attracts fluids in the joint, which are helpful in maintaining comfortable movement of the joint and also accumulates nutrition for the joint to keep it healthy and functional.

Injury, Wear and Tear of Joint:

In the situations of Injury, wear, or corrosion action of enzymes result into weakening of this protection, thus the cartilage fails to carry out repair function of its own. With slow progression there is damaging effect resulting into deep crevices and clefs, which cause impeding of movement resulting in painful arthritis.

The age old method of treatment of arthritis pain is by suppressing of pain with conventional analgesics like aspirin, ibuprofen etc. There is only temporary relief with these analgesics and the damaging effect initiated progresses at its own pace.

Role of Supplementing Nutrition:

Fortunately presently arthritis progression can be arrested by administration of specific nutrient supplements, which substitute substances, which the body has ceased to produce like Glucosamine and Chondroitin thus restoring the near normal function of the joints with considerable relief of joint pain.

One more useful nutrient is provided by methyl-sulfonyl-methane, it is a sulfur compound found in many food items like fish, fruits, vegetables, mutton and eggs. It helps in increasing the blood supply, reduction of muscular spasms and softening of the scars present in tissues.

Capsium present in cayenne pepper extract is useful in causing relief of arthritic pain.

The benefit of small molecular weight of emu oil helps its convenient penetration into the skin and soothing effect is felt in arthritic joints. It has anti-inflammatory property makes it highly favorite of sports persons in treating their minor injuries.

Correction of Lifestyle & Beneficial Effects:

The change in habits and lifestyle also helps in reducing the uncomfortable arthritis pain. Persons keeping themselves in trim shape and engage themselves in physically active living conditions have only a minor risk to osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is present in weight-bearing joints initially. Overweight persons have higher risk of their joint cartilage wearing out early not at par with the repair function of the cartilage.