Arthritis: Arthritis Explained

Arthritis means pain and this could be anywhere in the muscles or the bones which the disease affects; the joints especially bear the brunt and are very painful. The bones in the joints don't rib against each other if there is enough of cartilage to protect them. Therefore, because of this, cartilage has the exact same needs as the other glands and organs; cartilage cells are referred to as Chondrocytes. New cartilage cells or chondrocytes are replaced with new ones as they die.

The body can handle only a certain amount of cartilage cell replacement when there is inflammation the cartilage cells need much faster replacement which sometimes cannot be handled by the body. This is especially true if there has been an injury or there is not enough proper nutrients in the body to repair the joint. Damage from this condition can also cause joint weakness, instability and deformities and interrupt daily activities. A typical treatment of arthritis includes lifestyle changes and physical therapy. The last option left for the physicians to relieve the patients from discomfort is joint replacement surgery.

Arthritis is divided into two main categories, i.e. localized and generalized depending on areas affected; it is further subdivided into sub-categories. One of the sub-categories is localized conditions which only affect the soft tissue that surrounds the bones or joints, and is used to relate to conditions like tendonitis or bursitis. One of the localized conditions could affect just the hip or the knee joints. Generalized Conditions: The first sub-category for generalized conditions is for those that affect the muscle and soft tissue where there is no evidence of swelling or inflammation. Fibromyalgia, even though it isn't associated with joint damage, is a very common type of arthritis which can be placed under this particular category.

In the second sub-group is a condition in which the person suffering from arthritis may have swelling on the whole body. Under this category, rheumatoid arthritis would be an example of a condition you would see, along with psoriatic arthritis and gout. Erythematosus or involvement of skin, kidney and other organs, vasculitis or any organ and polymyositis involving the muscles are other generalized conditions.

There are about a 100 medical conditions that have affected about 46 million adults and 300,000 children in the US; a person can have more than one type of arthritis. Arthritis may affect people in infancy and its effects are more prominent in adulthood and are most common in the form of osteoarthritis. The numbers are increasing as the American population ages and more and more people are beginning to suffer from arthritis.

The prime cause of disability in the United States of America is caused because of arthritis; the American population spends over one hundred and twenty four billion dollars on medical care and other related expenses for treating arthritis. One could avoid osteoarthritis by keeping a check on the weight and by eating fresh vegetables and fruits that contain vitamin C and Vitamin D. Consumption of calcium is very important, adults must consume about 1000-1500mg calcium every day, exercising daily is a must and one must avoid injuries that may damage the joints.