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Arthritis is a disease that affects your joints. It's a common condition that causes pain and inflammation in the affected area, symptoms that are also characterized by redness, heat, and swelling.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. It usually develops in people in their mid-forties.
While less common than osteoarthritis, RA is still a painful and no less debilitating condition.
Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis that mainly affects the back, by causing inflammation in the spine. The condition leads to stiffness and joints fusing together.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that causes pain and tenderness in the body's muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Fatigue and trouble sleeping are common side effects.
Sadly, children are not immune to arthritis. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is the most common type of arthritis in kids and teens. It typically causes joint pain and inflammation across various parts of the body, including in hands, hips, elbows, and knees. The condition can strike anywhere between the ages of six months and 16 years.
Gout is a common form of inflammatory arthritis that is extremely painful. It occurs with the buildup of too much uric acid in the body. As it accumulates, the acid causes tiny sharp crystals to form in and around joints, usually affecting the big toe.
The autoimmune condition known as lupus is a chronic condition that causes joint pain and skin rashes in many different organs and the body's tissues. Fatigue is a common secondary complaint.
Cervical spondylosis is also known as degenerative osteoarthritis for the painful age-related wear and tear affecting the spinal disks in the neck.
Osteoarthritis is sometimes referred to as a degenerative joint disease, associated as it is with the "wear and tear" of joints in the hands, hips, and knees.
Women are more prone to OA than men. It's also prevalent in those with a family history of the condition.
But OA takes no prisoners. It can develop at any age and, besides the hereditary link, OA can appear following an injury. It's also associated with other joint-related conditions, such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis.
With OA, the cartilage within a joint begins to break down. This in turn changes the structure of the underlying bone.
Over time, the cartilage starts to roughen and thin out, meaning that the tendons and ligaments have to work harder. Things begin to get painful.
Later still, pain and discomfort worsen as stiffness and swelling kick in. This eventually leads to the formation of bony spurs called osteophytes.
In extreme cases of OA, severe loss of cartilage leads to bone rubbing on bone to alter the shape of the joint. At this point the bones are forced out of their normal position, resulting in reduced function and disability.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease and the second most common form of the disorder.
In RA, your immune system erroneously attacks healthy cells in your body, causing painful inflammation in the affected parts of the body.
Rheumatoid arthritis often presents itself in a person anywhere between the ages of 30 and 50. Again, women are more susceptible to the condition than men.
Rheumatoid arthritis mainly attacks the joints, usually many joints at once. The outer covering (synovium) of the joint is the first place affected. Pictured is a normal, healthy knee joint with articular cartilage of femur and tibia on either side. The synovium, supported by fat, is in the center.
In a joint with RA, the lining becomes inflamed, causing damage to joint tissue. This can then spread across the area, leading to further swelling and a change in the joint's shape.
The alternation in the joint's contours, plus damage to joint tissue, often causes the bone and cartilage to break down.
When this starts to happen, pain becomes chronic. The sufferer may also experience deformity in the affected area, and often unsteadiness if the arthritis has attacked the feet and knee joints.
Unfortunately, people with RA can also develop problems with other tissues and organs in their body, including the lungs, heart, and eyes.
There are more than 100 different forms of arthritis and related diseases. Specific symptoms vary depending on the type of arthritis, but usually include joint pain and stiffness.
Those suffering the skin condition known as psoriasis can also be hampered with psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory joint condition that, like psoriasis, is a long-term disorder that can get progressively worse.
Unfortunately, there's no cure for arthritis, but there are numerous treatments available that can help slow it down. If you suffer from the condition, it is important for your doctor to diagnose the type of arthritis you have so that you can get the proper treatment.
Regular exercise and, if you're tipping the scales, losing weight can help manage mild symptoms of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. Wearing special devices—a knee support brace, for example—to reduce the strain on your joints during your everyday activities is also recommended.
If your symptoms are more severe, additional treatments such as prescribed painkillers and a structured exercise plan incorporating physiotherapy may be required.
In extreme cases where damage to the joints is severe and treatments haven't worked, surgery may be performed to repair, strengthen, or replace a damaged joint.
See also: Inflammation could be the source of all your problems
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 58.5 million people in the United States alone have arthritis. That's 24% of all American adults! Osteoarthritis, the most common form of the condition, affects 7% of the global population (more than 500 million people worldwide), with women disproportionately affected by the disorder. Most forms of arthritis are thought to be caused by a defect in the immune system that causes the body to attack its own tissues in the joints. But it can also result from an injury or be associated with other joint-related conditions. It's a health issue that currently has no cure, though it can be managed and treated.
So, what exactly is arthritis, and how do you recognize its symptoms? Click through and find out more about this painful and debilitating medical malady.
The challenges of living with arthritis
This common ailment still has no cure
HEALTH Human body
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 58.5 million people in the United States alone have arthritis. That's 24% of all American adults! Osteoarthritis, the most common form of the condition, affects 7% of the global population (more than 500 million people worldwide), with women disproportionately affected by the disorder. Most forms of arthritis are thought to be caused by a defect in the immune system that causes the body to attack its own tissues in the joints. But it can also result from an injury or be associated with other joint-related conditions. It's a health issue that currently has no cure, though it can be managed and treated.
So, what exactly is arthritis, and how do you recognize its symptoms? Click through and find out more about this painful and debilitating medical malady.