Arthritis Symptoms, Treatment and Causes

Arthritis Types, Symptoms, Treatment and Causes:

What Is Arthritis?

Arthritis is functional to a wide variety of disorders, arthritis means inflammation of a joint, whether the outcome of a disease, an infection, a genetic defect, or various other cause.

The word arthritis comes from the Greek arthron meaning “joint” and the Latin itis meaning “inflammation”. The plural of arthritis is arthritides. Arthritis affects the musculoskeletal system, specifically the joints. It is the main cause of disability among people over fifty-five years of age in industrialized countries. Any part of your body can become inflamed or painful from arthritis. Some rheumatic conditions can result in debilitating, even life-threatening complications or may affect other parts of the body including the muscles, bones, and internal organs

Different Types of Arthritis:

Osteoarthritis: Osteoarthritis is the mainly common type of arthritis. It occurs when the cartilage covering the end of the bones in stages wears away. Lacking the protection of the cartilage, the bones start to rub against each other and the resulting friction leads to pain and swelling. Osteoarthritis can occur in any joint, but most often affects the hands and weight-bearing joints such as the knee, hip and facet joints in the spine.

Rheumatoid arthritis: Rheumatoid arthritis involves inflammation of the joints and results from the body’s abnormal attack on the joints, not from overuse of joints. It can affect someone’s entire body and often causes symptoms in addition to joint pain. Rheumatoid arthritis is most commonly diagnosed in people ages 25 to 50, but can affect people of all ages, including children.

Gout:

Gout is a painful condition that occurs when the bodily waste product uric acid is deposited as needle-like crystals in the joints and/or soft tissues. In the joints, these uric acid crystals cause inflammatory arthritis, which in turn leads to intermittent swelling, redness, heat, pain, and stiffness in the joints.

Symptoms Arthritis:

Various types of arthritis contain different symptoms and the symptoms vary in severity from person to person. Osteoarthritis does not usually cause any symptoms outside the joint. Symptoms of other types of arthritis can include fatigue, fever, a rash and the signs of joint inflammation, as well as:

Pain, Swelling, Stiffness, Tenderness, Redness, Warmth

Arthritis Causes:

The two main causes of arthritis: rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by a malfunction of the immune system; essentially the white blood cells start collecting in the membrane that surround your joints, causing the membrane to thicken, stiffen and lose range of motion. Osteoarthritis is the damage of the cushiony part of the joint, leaving the bones to grind against one another in the joint socket. Both forms of arthritis are frustrating and painful.

Arthritis Treatments:

Treatments for arthritis include rest and relaxation, exercise, proper diet, medication, and instruction about the proper use of joints and ways to conserve energy. Other treatments include the use of pain relief methods and assistive devices, such as splints or braces. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary.

>>See also: Natural Arthritis Remedies<<