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Information: Arthritis

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Definition:

Arthritis is a disease of the joints, especially in ligaments, cartilage, and synovium.
Inflammation of a joint. When a joint becomes inflamed it can cause redness, swelling, stiffness, and pain in the joint and surrounding muscles, ligaments and nerves.

Causes:

Age
Trauma to the joint
Infection of the joint
Uric acid crystals depositing in the joint causing inflammation
Autoimmune diseases

Characteristics:

Monoarthritis - one joint affected
Oligoarthritis - several joints affected
Polyarthritis - many joints are affected
Rheumatism - any type of pain in the muscles and joints for which there is no explanation
Types of arthritis - There are over 200 types of Arthritis - Here are a few of the most common.
- Osteoarthritis - is a degenerative arthritis and can be caused by age, trauma to the joint, or infection of the joint.
- Rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis are autoimmune diseases in which the body attacks itself.
- Gout arthritis is caused by uric acid crystals depositing in the joint causing inflammation. This arthritis may in some cases be controlled by medication and diet.
- Pseudogout - uncommon form of gout.
- Juvenile arthritis is any arthritis that affects a child.
- Lupus is a serious disorder that can inflame and damage joints and other connective tissues throughout the body.
- Fibromyalgia, in which widespread pain affects the muscles and attachments to the bone. It affects mostly women.
Heat, swelling, redness, stiffness, pain around joints.

Statistics:

Over 45 million adults have reported a diagnosis of some type of arthritis as reported by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. To see more of their statistics on different types of arthritis, visit the CDC page on Arthritis.

Diagnosis:

Blood tests and X-rays are used to diagnose arthritis.

Prevention:

Joint protection

Recovery

Recovery varies due to degree of arthritis, location of arthritis, health of patient, and age of patient.

Awareness

People are more alike than they are different.
Identify and develop an appreciation for each persons strengths and accomplishments.
Become aware of the affect on daily activities.
Arthritis Awareness Wear creates apparrel to educate people in a fun way about arthritis.

Viewpoint

Arthritis.

On-Line Discussion

Arthritis

Needs and Solutions

Treatment and Rehabilitation

Physical Therapy.
Occupational Therapy.
In some instances the disease can be cured or controlled, but can be quite irritating if ignored.
Life style changes such as weight control.
Medications.
Dietary supplements.
Joint replacement surgery.

Alternative Medicine

More and more people are searching for cures to arthritis. Through their effort, they are also finding and using alternative treatments for arthritis. They are using acupuncture, biofeedback, and chiropractic care, to name just a few of the alternatives.

The following article from About.com discusses these alternative treatments and some issues you could address with your doctor before trying an alternative treatment.

Alternative Treatments For Arthritis: Awareness Is The Key - What You Need To Know About Alternative Treatments by Carol & Richard Eustice

Learn More about Arthritis

Arthritis Foundation

References

Person to Person,

Disability and Rehabilitation Handbook, by Robert Goldenson, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1978, p.224.
Arthritis Awareness Wear
Medicine Net.com
Wikipedia on Arthritis

For more on the topic of Arthritis

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