By
Josh Madsen
Arizona Daily Wildcat
'Broadway Joe' encourages sufferers to use healthy living as treatment for
Football legend Joe Namath said people should familiarize themselves with their bodies and understand its need to avoid the discomfort of arthritis.
"We need to educate ourselves about our physiology, and if we don't know everything about ourselves, we need to ask for help," Namath said.
Namath said nobody knows what causes arthritis.
More than 500 people attended Namath's "Get a Grip on Arthritis," an event aimed at establishing a Web site, www.namathknows.com, for arthritis patients to have easy access to physicians across the country. The event was held Saturday at the Marriott University Park Hotel, 880 E. Second St.
Namath is among 20 million people in the United States who have been troubled with osteoarthritis since first entering the professional football arena in 1965.
Since his departure from the NFL in 1977, Namath has had both knees replaced, and has taken medication to help ease discomfort in his hands, hips, and new knees ever since.
Namath urged his onlookers to eat right, educate themselves and, perhaps most importantly, to stay active to avoid depression - a common condition in those crippled with arthritis.
Namath also said that one in seven Americans has arthritis, and to improve their condition he urged them to maintain a reasonable weight.
Because of the nature of the condition and inevitable wear and tear on joints with age, excess weight complicates joint problems.
"Arthritis impacts a lot of people, and what many don't realize is that it affects a lot of young people," said Shayne Neuwirth, a University of Arizona Business and Public Administration sophomore.
Like 300,000 other Americans under the age of 18, Seth Ginsberg, a sophomore at Babson College in Massachusetts, is riddled with arthritis and is committed to helping those in similar situations. Ginsberg attended the event to promote an arthritis awareness Web site .
"Arthritis is a horrible condition. It hurts the joints it inflames, and there is little relief," Ginsberg said. "I take 12 pills a day, but I still feel like I've been beaten up, like my knees were clubbed."
Aside from regular methods of treatment, such as attention to weight and diet, new treatments are being practiced instead of surgery, said Dr. David Yocum, a UA professor of medicine.
These structural modifying techniques involve the injection of growth factor in joints, spurring the rejuvenation of cartilage, Yocum said.
