Arthritis Types

One of the most unbearable human conditions is Arthritis. Arthritis causes pain, stiffness and sometimes swelling in or around the joints, making it hard for movements for daily activities to work or take care of the family. A lot of options are available and steps to avoid arthritis or to reduce its pain keeping the freedom to move about.

There are more than 100 types of arthritis most cause of which is unknown. Scientists have been studying causes of arthritis and considering three major factors that contribute in one way or another to certain types of arthritis. These factors include genetic factors, life style, and environmental factors. The significance of these factors varies for different types of arthritis.

Some of the most common types of arthritis are:

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) or degenerative arthritis, is a condition where pain occurs in the joints due to low grade inflammation. The cause is normally attributed to the wearing and tearing of the cartilage (hence it’s more colloquial name “wear and tear”).

The cartilage is that piece of tissue that covers and acts as a cushion inside joints. As the cartilage wears down, the bone surfaces between joints become less well protected, resulting in pain on the patient, particularly upon weight bearing, such as walking and standing.

To avoid the pain, a patient may decrease his movements. However, this (the decreased movements) may indirectly result in certain conditions of the regional muscles, such as atrophy and lax ligaments.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting nearly 21 million people in the United States. That accounts for 25% of visits to primary care physicians and half of an NSAID, or Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs, prescriptions.

A Green 2001 health report has revealed that an estimated 80% of the population will have shown signs of osteoarthritis by age 65, evidenced by radiographic test. However, the same report said that only 60% will be symptomatic.

Because the primary problem with osteoarthritis is the degeneration of the cartilage, which cannot ever grow back, there is unfortunately no cure for the condition. Treatment consists of NSAIDs, local glucocorticoid injections, and in severe cases, with joint replacement surgery. The goal is not to cure the disorder, which is irreversible, but to reduce the joint pain, and in that regard, science has no shortage.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

The other form of arthritis, less common than OA, is rheumatoid arthritis or RA. It is a chronic, inflammatory auto immune disorder where the body’s own immune system attacks the joints.

Because of pain and joint destruction as a result of this condition, rheumatoid arthritis can lead to substantial loss of mobility as well as affect many extra articular tissues of the body, such as the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and muscles.

The treatment approach for this form of arthritis is different from OA. In osteoarthritis, the goal is to reduce the pain, in rheumatoid arthritis, there is actually a treatment that could halt disease progression.

There are two approaches: one is the disease modifying antirheumatic drugs or DMARDs, and anti inflammatory agents and analgesics. The former is responsible for producing durable remissions and delay or even halting the disease from progressing. The latter only treats the pain resulting from the disorder.

To determine what form of arthritis a patient suffers, X rays and blood tests are often performed on the affected joints.

The type can be distinguished by the pace of the onset, the age and sex of the patient, the amount of joints affected, and additional symptoms like psoriasis, iridocyclitis, rheumatoid nodules, and Raynaud’s phenomenon – all of which can be shown through blood testing and X ray.

Gout

Is one of the types of arthritis that results from too much uric acid in the body. With this disease the body either makes too much uric acid or does not excrete enough. Uric acid is a waste product of the body that is normally flushed out of the body by kidneys through urine. This is a metabolic disorder in which uric acids builds up in the blood and crystals form in joints and other places causing sudden, severe attacks, usually in the big toes, but any joint can be affected. Drugs and attention to diet can control gout.

Ankylosing Spondylitis

Is one of the types of arthritis that involves the spine. A chronic inflammatory disease of the spine that can result in fused vertebrae and rigid spine. It causes pain and back stiffness and also bent posture, caused by the ongoing swelling and irritation of the spinal joints. In severe cases, inflammation of the vertebrae causes them to fuse together leading to severely limited mobility. This disease is often milder and harder to diagnose in women.

Juvenile Arthritis

Also called chronic childhood arthritis, this type of arthritis occurs in children under the age of 16. The disease causes pain, stiffness, and swelling in one or more of the joints called inflammation. With juvenile arthritis, the inflammation lasts longer than six weeks and is not caused by injury or other illness. Some children recover completely but others remain affected throughout their lives.

Psoriatic Arthritis

Is one of the types of arthritis where the bone and other joint tissues become inflamed and like rheumatoid arthritis, can affect the whole body. It also causes a scaly skin rash on the skin of the elbows, knees and scalp. It usually affects the wrists, knees, ankles, fingers and toes.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

This type of arthritis involves skin, joints, muscles, and sometimes internal organs. Also called lupus or SLE, where the body’s immune system stops working properly and the immune system attacks healthy tissues causing these tissues to become swollen and painful, called inflammation. The inflammation can happen in the skin, muscles or joints. The heart, lungs, kidneys, blood vessels or the nervous system can also be attacked by the immune system. There may be periods of inflammation called flare-ups or periods where there is little or no inflammation called remissions. Symptoms can occur in anyone at any age, but usually appear in women of childbearing age.

Other Types Of Arthritis

Behçet’s Disease, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Childhood Arthritis, Chronic Back Injury, Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH), Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), Felty's Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Infectious Arthritis, Lupus, Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), Lyme Disease, Osteoporosis, Paget's Disease, Polymyalgia Rheumatica, Polymyositis and Dermatomyositis, Pseudogout, Raynaud's Phenomenon, Reactive Arthritis, Repetitive Stress Injury, Scleroderma, Sjögren's Syndrome, Still’s Disease, Wegener’s granulomatosis, etc.