Arthritis Comes in Different Forms

As most of you know, arthritis is a disease that comes in several forms. Arthritis itself means inflammation of the joints. The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, however, there are over one hundred different forms identified. Here is a brief list of some of the more common forms of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the degradation of the joints, including the cartilage and the bone. This degradation causes the sufferer pain, stiffness and loss of mobility. While there is a hereditary factor in developing osteoarthritis, it is a fairly common disease of ageing regardless of genetics. Rheumatoid arthritis is considered a systemic autoimmune disease. It is systemic because it has the potential to affect many of the body's organs and tissues. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease because it mistakenly attacks the body's own healthy tissues. Rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of the joints, the synovium. Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of arthritis in children. It usually will appear between 6 months and 16 years of age. Just like adult Rheumatoid arthritis, Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder. Gouty Arthritis is associated with the disorder gout which is an overload of uric acid in the body that causes the formation of small crystals of urate that deposit in tissues throughout the body. This causes inflammation of the joints which is intensified even more as the immune system reacts to the deposits of the urate crystals. Lupus arthritis is a side effect of the autoimmune disease Lupus. In this disease, inflammation of the joints is common. Sufferers of Lupus arthritis tend to have morning stiffness as well as tenderness around the area(s) of the infected joint(s). Again, these are only a few of the forms of arthritis out there. I hope this helps while you are reading the lay articles!