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Articles » Health-&-Fitness » Pain-Management >> View Article
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| Arthritis Explained |
By:
Suta Chabok |
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All arthritis conditions affect the musculoskeletal system and joints which causes pain, stiffness, inflammation, and damage to the joint cartilage. The ends of the bones are protected by cartilage a living tissue which reduces friction as the bones rub each other. Like the other organs in our body, cartilage too needs looking after. The cartilage cells that are the chondrocytes are usually replaced by new cells when the old ones die.
The swelling that is caused due to arthritis damages more cells of the cartilage and most of the time the body takes time to generate new cells. This happens when the body is not healthy and suffers from malnutrition, injury can also be another cause. Instability, joint weakness and deformities can be caused by this condition which will start affecting normal day today activities. Arthritis is normally treated with physical therapy, medication and includes changes to the person's way of life or lifestyle. Health care providers use joint replacement surgery as their last resort, once they have tried all of the less intrusive interventions to try and relieve the discomfort.
Arthritis is divided into two main categories, i.e. localized and generalized depending on areas affected; it is further subdivided into sub-categories. Localized Conditions: This affects the soft tissue surrounding the joints or bones is refers to conditions such as bursitis or tendonitis. Another sub-category of the localized conditions only affects one or only a few joints, such as a knee or hip. A generalized condition is a condition where the muscles and the soft tissues get damaged, in this condition there is no swelling or any kind of inflammation on the joints. Fibromyalgia, even though it isn't associated with joint damage, is a very common type of arthritis which can be placed under this particular category.
The next condition in the second sub category causes inflammation which affects the whole body. Rheumatoid arthritis, gout and psoriatic arthritis come under this category. 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.
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. The condition is most common as osteoarthritis in adults age 60 and above but it can start as early as infancy. The numbers are increasing as the American population ages and more and more people are beginning to suffer from arthritis.
124 billion dollars a year are spent annually on medical care and other expenses connected to arthritis and related infirmities, making it a foremost cause for disability. 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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