Arthritis Types
The many types of arthritis can be divided into two main categories: inflammatory arthritis and non-inflammatory arthritis. Ironically, inflammatory arthritis causes stiffness when a person rests. It equally impacts joints on both sides of the body, meaning that they both experience the same degree of severity of symptoms. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis. Like some other forms of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis also qualifies an autoimmune disease, which means the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells. This causes the joint lining to become inflamed. Inflammatory forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis are often debilitating. In the most severe cases, it can cause overall health deterioration and possibly even organ failure. It primarily affects women. Rheumatoid arthritis can occur in a person of any ages, but it’s most frequently diagnosed in patients who are between 25 and 50 years of age.
Non-inflammatory forms of arthritis create pain that is intensified by movement and bearing weight. The pain caused by non-inflammatory forms of arthritis can impact joints on either side of the body but usually affects them with different degree of severity at the same time. For instance a person with a non-inflammatory form of arthritis might have a very achy and swollen knee but only mild moderate pain in his or her shoulder blade. Contrary to those of inflammatory arthritis, the symptoms of non-inflammatory arthritis are often alleviated by rest. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of non-inflammatory arthritis, and the most common form of arthritis in general. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease; it causes progressive deterioration in the joints. Osteoarthritis usually involves those joints that do the most weight bearing. These joints suffer a lot of wear and tear, resulting in mechanical joint damage. Patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis are usually over 40-years old.
Arthritis is also often classified in terms of how many parts of the body it affects. Arthritis that affects only one part of the body is considered to be a form of monoarthritis, whereas arthritis that effects multiple locations is called polyarthritis.
The specific, common forms of arthritis include gout. Although arthritis in general typically plague women more often then men, gout mostly strikes the male population. Gout stems from fault body chemistry. It causes severe pain in the smaller joints, focusing on the big toe in particular. Gout can be managed with great effectiveness through the use of medication and adjustments to the patients’ diet. Ankylosing spondylitis is another fairly common brand of arthritis. It causes the bones of the spine to fuse together. Juvenile arthritis is arthritis that occurs in children. It usually takes the form of rheumatoid arthritis or of lupus. Fibromyalgia triggers pain in the muscles and the materials that attach one bone to another. It is most prevalent in the female population. Scleroderma causes thickening in the body’s connective tissue and also leads to hardening of the skin. Systemic lupus erythematosus is a form of arthritis that can swell up and damage widespread joints and connective tissue.