As we get older most of us will suffer from arthritis to varying degrees. Arthritis cannot be stopped but it can be slowed. Here are some easy tips to slow the progression if arthritis.

To an extent, we all experience some degree of osteoarthritis as we get older as our joint cartilage wears down from age and use. But, some people have a lot of osteoarthritis at a relatively early age and others have very little at an advanced age. The goal with arthritis, as with other aspects of aging, is to slow the development. This is best begun early in life, but the lifestyle choices that help postpone arthritis help at any age and also help the heart and blood vessels. The following three principles may sound very familiar to some people but have some many benefits to your health.

The first principle is to keep fit. Exercise increases the overall strength of your bones and the stability of the supporting ligaments and tendons. Exercise feeds the joint cartilage by bringing nutrients to the cartilage and removing waste products. Performing regular, low impact exercise that is a permanent part of your lifestyle is required to gain these anti-arthritis benefits.

Controlling your weight is the next principle in slowing down the development of arthritis in you joints. Being overweight places unnecessary stress on your joints by changing the angles at which the ligaments attach to the bone as well as the additional impact on the feet, ankles, knees, hips and lower back.

The third important principle is the need to protect your joints. You should always listen to the pain messages that your body sends you and perform the activities that cause those signals in a less stressful way if at all possible. Your joints, ligaments and tendons can be damaged by misuse of a part that is already injured. Unfortunately in today's society it is common practice that is something is causing you pain to just pop a pill and just continue the activity. By doing so the injury is still there, you are just not hearing the messages from your body to stop. This is actually causing more damage and more pain in the future. Listen to your body and change the activity as appropriate.

There is no better health care advocate for you, than yourself. As we get older suffering from arthritis becomes more and more of a reality, especially when you start to consider elder care health. Some people never suffer or have extremely minor symptoms of arthritis. For many others, arthritis can be a crippling condition that limits or completely eliminates any ability of mobility. By taking low impact and sensible actions you are able to postpone if not completely avoid the symptoms of arthritis.