Different Types of Arthritis. Really?

We know now what arthritis is and basically who is prone to getting it so today we will be covering the different types of Arthritis that affects us in this day and age. Now many of you out there in today’s reading audience are aware of what this disease is and how difficult it is to live with it but stop for a second and just think that there are over one hundred different types of arthritis. That is a big number! Of the more common types of arthritis there are: Osteoarthritis, Gout, and Rheumatoid Arthritis..

We will also be covering what the symptoms of arthritis are and what causes it. That is a question that I am pretty sure many of you out there have asked yourselves over the years. Maybe you watched someone that you loved dearly suffer with the effects of arthritis and felt powerless to stop it. You won’t be able to stop it but at least now you will be more prepared in that you will arm yourself with knowledge about this disease.

Osteoarthritis: As stated, this is the most common type of arthritis and it affects the cartilage that covers the end of the bones. This causes the cartilage to wear away slowly. If your bones don’t have cartilage at the end to protect them the bones themselves will start to rub against each other and this will cause pain and inflammation.

This can happen in any joint in the body but it is most common in the hands and any bones that have to carry weight like the knees, hips and the facet joints in the spine. Osteoarthritis will occur when the cartilage degenerates as a person gets older. Doctors also refer to Osteoarthritis as Degenerative Joint Disease.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: This type is an extremely long lasting disease that can attack the joints in any part of a person’s body, the most common places that it hits is the knees, wrists and the hands of the victim. The person’s immune system attacks itself when it thinks it is doing a good thing. In turn, it causes the lining of the joint to swell and cause the person more pain.

Gout: This is another very painful form of Arthritis that will take hold of a person’s body and causes it to stop getting rid of the substance known as uric acid. The uric acid that builds up in the body will then form crystals in the joint that will cause the person severe pain and swelling. Most of the time it affects the wrist joints, the knees and also a person’s big toe.

You may be wondering what the symptoms of arthritis are, well, we have put together a list of what the main symptoms are said to be. Remember that every type of arthritis is different and in that they all have different symptoms. These symptoms will range in severity from each individual, just like each individual handles a cold different than the other. Osteoarthritis doesn’t normally have any symptoms aside from the joint pain.

The symptoms of other forms of arthritis sometimes include a fever, rash and fatigue, and also have the signs of inflammation in the joint, also:

1.The pain (of course)

2.Swelling of the affected area

3.Tenderness of the affected area

4.Redness of the affected area

5.warmth of the affected area

Now many of you might be wondering about what it is that causes arthritis to begin with right? As explained earlier, there are many types of arthritis and even more so that the medical community has yet to diagnose. There are many different things that can cause it but some researchers have stated that heredity plays a big part in it and the lifestyle choices of the affected person.

On a personal note: You won’t  believe this but I was actually stricken with Gout during the production of the series of articles. It made my ankle swell to the size of a football and I could not walk for two days, but didn’t actually realize it was gout until I went to the doctor.  Ironic eh?

We’ll dig deeper next time. Thanks for reading my blog!

HealthGeek