Saturday, August 9, 2008

The Truth About Arthritis - What You need to Know

By Jakie Datton


All arthritis conditions affect the musculoskeletal system and joints which causes pain, stiffness, inflammation, and damage to the joint cartilage. The joints are protected by tissue called cartilage which ensures the ends of bones don't rub against one another.

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.

However, over time inflammation can kill more cartilage cells than the body can replace. This is especially true if there has been an injury or there are not enough proper nutrients in the body to repair the joint.

The condition causes damage where instability, deformities and joint weakness can obstruct daily life. A person suffering from arthritis needs to bring about a change in his day to day living and requires proper medication and physiotherapy. One method of treating joint problems is invasive joint replacement therapy and is only resorted to after all other treatments have failed.

Arthritis is divided into to major groups that may affect the 'localized' or 'generalized' parts of the body or even depending on the joints that get damaged; it then is further divided into sub-groups. Localized Conditions: This affects the soft tissue surrounding the joints or bones is refers to conditions such as bursitis or tendinitis.

A sub-category of this affects one or some of the joints like hip or knee joints. Generalized arthritis conditions involve a sub category where there is no swelling or inflammation but the muscle and soft tissue are affected. In this condition there is no evident kind of damage caused to the joints and is known as Fibromyalgia; this form of the condition is widespread among people.

The next condition in the second sub category causes inflammation which affects the whole body. Gout, Rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis are all related to this group. Still other generalized situations include polymyositis, involving muscles, systemic lupus erythematosus involving the skin, kidneys and or other organs and vasculitis where any organ is involved.

It is not uncommon for people to have more than one form of arthritis; there are almost 100 medical conditions which affects approximately 300,000 children and 46 million adults in the United States. Osteoarthritis is a condition mostly noticed in adults over 60 years, however, it can start at infancy too. The numbers are increasing as the American population ages and more and more people are beginning to suffer from arthritis.

Arthritis and related illnesses are the cause of major disability in the U.S. and costs over 124 billion dollars a year in medical care and indirect expenses. Osteoarthritis can be prevented by taking a few precautionary measures; these include, maintaining suitable or appropriate body weight, and consuming plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are good sources for the vitamins C and D.

Also by making sure they are getting enough calcium (adults: 1000-1500mg per day), regular exercise and to avoid injuries brought about by sports activities.

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