How To Find Out If You Have Arthritis

Overview

Arthritis is the swelling and tenderness of ane or more joints. The main symptoms of arthritis are articulation hurting and stiffness, which typically worsen with historic period. The most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis causes cartilage — the hard, slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones where they form a joint — to break down. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the immune organization attacks the joints, get-go with the lining of joints.

Uric acid crystals, which form when there's too much uric acid in your blood, can cause gout. Infections or underlying disease, such as psoriasis or lupus, tin cause other types of arthritis.

Treatments vary depending on the type of arthritis. The main goals of arthritis treatments are to reduce symptoms and ameliorate quality of life.

Types

Ankylosing spondylitis
Gout
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Osteoarthritis
Psoriatic arthritis
Reactive arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Septic arthritis
Pollex arthritis

Symptoms

The about common signs and symptoms of arthritis involve the joints. Depending on the blazon of arthritis, signs and symptoms may include:

Pain
Stiffness
Swelling
Redness
Decreased range of movement

Causes

The two chief types of arthritis — osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis — damage joints in different means.

Osteoarthritis

The most common blazon of arthritis, osteoarthritis involves wear-and-tear damage to a joint's cartilage — the hard, slick coating on the ends of basic where they class a joint. Cartilage cushions the ends of the bones and allows well-nigh frictionless articulation motion, but enough damage tin event in bone grinding directly on bone, which causes pain and restricted move. This wearable and tear tin can occur over many years, or information technology can be hastened past a joint injury or infection.

Osteoarthritis also causes changes in the bones and deterioration of the connective tissues that attach musculus to bone and concord the articulation together. If cartilage in a joint is severely damaged, the joint lining may become inflamed and swollen.

Rheumatoid arthritis

In rheumatoid arthritis, the torso'due south immune system attacks the lining of the joint sheathing, a tough membrane that encloses all the joint parts. This lining (synovial membrane) becomes inflamed and swollen. The illness process can somewhen destroy cartilage and bone within the articulation.

Gamble factors

Hazard factors for arthritis include:

Family history. Some types of arthritis run in families, then you may be more likely to develop arthritis if your parents or siblings have the disorder.
Age. The risk of many types of arthritis — including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and gout — increases with historic period.
Your sex. Women are more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis, while nearly of the people who have gout, some other blazon of arthritis, are men.
Previous joint injury. People who have injured a joint, mayhap while playing a sport, are more likely to eventually develop arthritis in that joint.
Obesity. Conveying excess pounds puts stress on joints, particularly your knees, hips and spine. People with obesity take a higher adventure of developing arthritis.

Complications

Astringent arthritis, specially if it affects your hands or artillery, can make information technology hard for you to do daily tasks. Arthritis of weight-bearing joints can keep you from walking comfortably or sitting up direct. In some cases, joints may gradually lose their alignment and shape.

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