New Delhi, Sept. 7 -- For decades, osteoarthritis (OA, the most common form of arthritis), was dismissed as the price of ageing - cartilage gradually thinning, joints stiffening, mobility declining. But across India's hospitals and clinics, doctors are reporting a troubling shift: patients in their thirties and forties are arriving with symptoms once reserved for the elderly. And among children, India carries one of the heaviest burdens of juvenile arthritis in Asia, with cases often diagnosed far too late.

"There are broadly two forms of arthritis: osteoarthritis that is linked to ageing, and secondary arthritis, which arises from conditions like rheumatoid disease, fractures, or major ligament injuries. Of these, osteoarthritis is the ...