I was diagnosed with rheumetoid arthritis at about 6 months of age, told I would never walk ect so I do have a little experience with it, but all arthritis is not created equal. When you say degenerative arthritis I assume you mean osteoarthritis? If so the main cause of it (in my opinion anyways) is people reliance on anti-inflamaroty medications as well as the means in which Docs have been treating injuries for so many years.
Everyone seems to be on an anti-inflamatory kick yet seem to overlook the fact that inflamation is the key factor in the healing of certain tissues. One reason athletes generally suffer greatly in their old age is because the suffer an injury which causes joint laxity(strains/sprains etc). They generally use ice, rest, ant-inflamatories etc to deal with pain and keep inflamation down and in doing so greatly hinder if not prevent the healing, and subsequent strengthening of the tendons/ligaments that support our structure. Over time these sloppy joints wear away at cartilegde. Prolotherapy can work wonders (find out more at prolonews.com) at stabilizing joints and some Prolo docs are experimenting with combining GH in with the prolo injections in an effort to help rebuild cartilegde.
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