Special Section On Arthritis

Major Types

• Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, and is seen especially among older people. Sometimes it is called degenerative joint disease or osteoarthrosis. Osteoarthritis mostly affects cartilage, the hard but slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones where they meet to form a joint. Healthy cartilage allows bones to glide over one another. It also absorbs energy from the shock of physical movement.
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• Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of function in the joints. It has several special features that make it different from other kinds of arthritis. For example, rheumatoid arthritis generally occurs in a symmetrical pattern, meaning that if one knee or hand is involved, the other one also is. The disease often affects the wrist joints and the finger joints closest to the hand. It can also affect other parts of the body besides the joints. In addition, people with rheumatoid arthritis may have fatigue, occasional fevers, and a general sense of not feeling well.
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• Juvenile Arthritis
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is arthritis that causes joint inflammation and stiffness for more than 6 weeks in a child of 16 years of age or less. Inflammation causes redness, swelling, warmth, and soreness in the joints, although many children with JRA do not complain of joint pain. Any joint can be affected and inflammation may limit the mobility of affected joints.
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• Gout

Gout is one of the most painful rheumatic diseases. It results from deposits of needle-like crystals of uric acid in connective tissue, in the joint space between two bones, or in both. These deposits lead to inflammatory arthritis, which causes swelling, redness, heat, pain, and stiffness in the joints. The term arthritis refers to more than 100 different rheumatic diseases that affect the joints, muscles, and bones, as well as other tissues and structures. Gout accounts for approximately 5 percent of all cases of arthritis.
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Rare Types and Diseases That Cause Arthritis

• Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a disorder that primarily affects the spine. It is a form of chronic inflammatory arthritis characterized by back pain and stiffness. These symptoms typically appear in adolescence or early adulthood. As the condition progresses, back movement can gradually become limited as the bones of the spine (vertebrae) fuse together. Joint stiffness or a limited range of motion in certain joints is called ankylosis.
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• Familial Mediterranean Fever
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) occurs most commonly in people of non-Ashkenazi Jewish, Armenian, Arab, and Turkish background. As many as 1 in 200 people in these populations have the disease, with as many as 1 in 5 acting as a disease carrier. FMF is an inherited disorder usually characterized by recurrent episodes of fever and peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal membrane).
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• Henoch-Schönlein Purpura
Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is a disease that causes small blood vessels in the skin to leak because of inflammation. The primary symptom is a rash that looks like many small raised bruises on the legs. The rash is most often on the legs and buttocks, but it can appear on other parts of the body. Some people with HSP also develop abdominal pain or joint pain (arthritis). The kidneys may be affected as well, causing blood or protein in the urine. HSP can occur any time in life, but it usually happens in children between the ages of 2 and 11.
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• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases that affect nearly one million Americans. Crohn's disease tends to affect the small intestine, although any part of the digestive tract may be involved. Ulcerative colitis usually causes an inflammation in all or part of the large intestine. People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often have diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, and weight loss.
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• Wegener's Granulomatosis
Wegener's granulomatosis is an uncommon disease, in which the blood vessels are inflamed (vasculitis). This inflammation damages important organs of the body by limiting blood flow to those organs and destroying normal tissue.
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• Haemochromatosis

Hemochromatosis, the most common form of iron overload disease, is an inherited disorder that causes the body to absorb and store too much iron. The extra iron builds up in organs and damages them. Without treatment, the disease can cause these organs to fail.
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Common Questions On Arthritis

• What is Arthritis?

There are over 100 forms of arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. These diseases may cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints and other supporting structures of the body such as...
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• What's the Difference Between Osteoporosis and Arthritis?

Many people confuse osteoporosis and some types of arthritis. This fact sheet will discuss the similarities and differences between these conditions...
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• Does Glucosamine and Chondroitin Provide Any Help For Arthritis Pain?

GAIT is the first, large-scale, multicenter clinical trial in the United States to test the effects of the dietary supplements glucosamine and chondroitin for...
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• How Effective Is Over-The-Counter Medication For Arthritis Pain?

Common oral medications for arthritis, especially osteoarthritis, include nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen. Patients with osteoarthritis also use over-the-counter...
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• What About Total Knee Replacement (TKR), How Effective Is It?

Based on existing research evidence, total knee replacement (TKR) is a safe and cost-effective treatment for alleviating pain and restoring physical function in patients who do not respond to nonsurgical...
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• What About Alternative Medicine For Rheumatoid Arthritis?

  Complementary and Alternative Medicine is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine. Conventional medicine is medicine as practiced by holders of M.D. ...
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