Multimorbidity in osteoarthritis

This review is focused on the issue of terminology in patients with multiple coexisting diseases in modern clinical practice. We articulate that multimorbidity is one of the leading problems in the field of public healthcare and that the treatment of these patients demands an integral approach derived from the combined nature of the pathology . It was shown that multiple coexisting diseases have a negative effect both on the course of osteoarthritis (OA) and its concomitant ailments, including higher risk of polypharmacy and death. Extra attention is paid to slow-acting symptomatic drugs, which often have positive pleiotropic effects towards both the OA and the concomitant diseases. In particular, there is more and more research showing evidence of the beneficial effects of chondroitin sulfate both on the OA treatment effectiveness as well as on the terms of cardiometabolic prognosis, mitigation of glucose metabolism deficiency and mortality.