The Truth About Arthritis - What You need to Know

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The Truth About Arthritis - What You need to Know

Monday, December 15th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Arthritis is a disease of the musculoskeletal system and the damage to the joints can be bad as time goes by, accompanied by swelling and pain. Cartilage is a dense, living, tissue covering the ends of bones, protecting them from abrasion as the joint bones rub against each other.

The cells or chondrocytes which cartilage is made up of are similar to the ones in the other glands in the human body. Like in the case of all living cells, chondrocytes die and are replaced.

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 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 tendinitis or bursitis.

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 second sub category is one where there is inflammation and the whole body is affected. Rheumatoid arthritis, gout and psortiatis arthritis are examples of the next conditions in this subcategory. Other generalized conditions are polymyositis (muscles); systemic lupus erythematosus (skin, kidneys, or other organs); and vasculitis (any organ).

An individual is capable of having more than just one arthritis type and it includes over one hundred different medical conditions that are known to affect roughly forty six million adults and three hundred thousand children within the United States. As early on as infancy, this condition can begin, even though it is most commonly seen in adults that are over the age of sixty, in the primary form of osteoarthritis. As the population within America ages, the number of individuals that are suffering from arthritis is constantly increasing.

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.

Are you tired of the pain and not being able to do the things you love to do. Do you know that there are natural methods to reduce arthritis pain? Visit our site to find out the secrets of arthritis pain relief.

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