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What does arthritis mean? Arthritis literally means joint inflammation. You also have to understand that arthritis is not a single disease. Arthritis refers to an entire group of diseases. Most people don't realize that there are over 100 conditions and rheumatic diseases that are all arthritis related. What they all do is cause pain, swelling and stiffness in a variety of manners and all of them affect different parts of the body. The time that joints are starting to get damaged is when it is said that you have arthritis. Most of us realize that this condition affects the older population. Each of the different forms of arthritis all have there own cause. The common thread between all arthritis The 100 forms of arthritis do have something very much in common. Pain is common, far and away the number one answer. This pain is going to be different for each of the sufferers and where the pain is located is also going to be different. Some symptoms of arthritis to warn you of possible problems Stiffness swelling pain difficulty in moving one or more joints Pain, swelling and stiffness in moving one or more of your joints may be a sign that you are starting to suffer from arthritis. If you are having these problems for two weeks or longer, then you need to visit your doctor immediately and have these symptoms checked out and treated. You don't want to let this go with out doing anything. Listing all the different types of arthritis would become quite extensive and I am not about to do that here. I will do another article explaining them, but for now here is a list of some of the most common types and the symptoms that are associated with each type of arthritis. Osteo arthritis - this is really a degenerative joint disease and most of the time the pain is worse at night or after resting. Usually this occurs due to wear and tear on the body. Symptoms of Osteo arthritis can be: tenderness decreased function of the joint pain in affected joint swelling The onset of osteo arthritis is very subtle and gradual, usually involving one or only a few joints. Some of the joints most affected by this are: knees hips hands spine Rheumatoid - you are going to feel the most pain during the morning. If this happens in children and/or the elderly then the pain may not be as pronounced. Now sometimes there are going to be cases when certain limbs don't want to function. Rhuematoid arthritis can be a potentially disabling disease. The body is attacking isself. This is how Rhuematoid arthritis is an auto immune disease. Problems can be: Some of these symptoms are similar to other types of arthritis. you can have stiffness pain in the affected joint swelling of the joint you can lose function of the joint The cause of rheumatoid arthritis remains elusive. Doctors believe that there could be something genetic involved with this. Rheumatoid arthritis in the beginning stages can be difficult to diagnose because again this is gradual and has subtle symptoms. Here are some of the other types of arthritis, and don't forget there are many more not listed. You have as mentioned rheumatoid, osteo arthritis, gout, pseudogout, septic, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and there are as I say many others. With the technology today and the advances in medicine, treating arthritis symptoms have become many. Drugs, either over the counter or stronger drugs prescribed by your doctor is one way and then there is also arthroplasty. This is just a couple ways to treat the symptoms. When joint pain is so severe that there may come a time when prosthetic joint replacement may become necessary. The people who have had this done are very satisfied with the results. 4500 B.C. where when the first signs of arthritis were seen. So as you can see this disease has been around for a very long time. Ankle osteoarthritis were found in dinosaurs. Even the native Americans of Tennessee, it was noticed that they suffered from a form of arthritis. Today all we can do is to treat the pain and stiffness that is associated with the symptoms of arthritis. Maybe in the future as studies continue on this disease, a cure may come. But for now all we can do is to treat the symptoms. There are other treatments besides the couple listed above and I will talk about them in another article.
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Today many people struggle because of some form of arthritis, so learn of some Arthritis Prevention Tips now and you can also learn how some of the Celebrities with Rheumatoid Arthritis make it.
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