• Home
  •
• Arthritis Symptoms
  •
• Arthritis Types
  •
• Arthritis Prevention
  •
• Arthritis Treatment

Arthritis Glossary

• Analgesics – type of medications that are used to relieve pain.
• Ankylosing Spondylitis – degenerative, inflammatory disease characterized by back pain and impaired mobility of the spinal column.
• Autoimmune Disease – disease whereby a faulty immune system produces antibodies which attack one’s own tissues.
• Beta-carotene – a red-orange pigment found in plants and fruits that has been found to help reduce the risk of arthritis.
• Cardiovascular Exercises – activities that involve the large muscles, such as legs, and help make the heart and lungs stronger; includes running, jogging, bicycling, swimming and jump-roping.
• Carotenoids – organic pigments that have been found to help reduce the risk of arthritis.
• Corticosteroids – steroid hormones naturally produced in the adrenal cortex; synthetic equivalents are cortisol and aldosterone.
• Crystalline Diseases – diseases which create crystallized material in joint spaces.
• Fibromyalgia – disease characterized by fatigue, tenderness and chronic pain in the muscles and soft tissues around joints.
• Gout – disease characterized by painful inflammation of the joints, especially those in the feet, hands and big toes, and an excess of uric acid in the blood.
• Juvenile Arthritis – chronic arthritis that begins in childhood and is characterized by swelling, tenderness and pain in one of more joints as well as lymph node and spleen enlargement.
• Monarthritis – arthritis of a single joint.
• Musculoskeletal System – system of muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, joints and associated tissues that move the body and maintain its form.
• Nodules – small, rounded mass or lump.
• Osteoarthritis – degenerative form of non-inflammatory arthritis; most common form of arthritis.
• Polyarthritis – arthritis in more than one joint.
• Rheumatic – pertaining to any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain and stiffness.
• Rheumatologist – doctor that specializes in arthritis and related diseases
• Scleroderma – disease causing connective tissues to harden and become rigid.
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus – autoimmune inflammatory disease of connective tissues characterized by skin eruptions, join pain, recurrent pleurisy and kidney disease .
• Zeaxanthin – a carotenoid found to help reduce the risk of arthritis.