U.S. Health Watch

Introduction
Arthritis is a general term which is applied to a number of painful conditions affecting the joints and bones. There are about 100 different types of arthritis.
Arthritis is normally associated with older people, but it can affect people at any age, even children. This is called Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
There are some forms of arthritis which are inherited, but most are not. Some forms of arthritis show very strong tendencies to be inherited, others show a weak tendency and some based on the available evidence are not inherited.

Symptoms
The main symptoms of arthritis are stiffness and pain of particular joints. There may also be some restrictive movement of the affected joints along with some swelling and redness over the joints in a number of cases. The specific symptoms again will depend upon what type of arthritis you?re suffering from although the vast majority of types of arthritis all include problems created by the inflammation and swelling of joints.

Causes
The cause of arthritis is not fully known, however, some factors which may contribute to arthritis are obesity and jobs which put repetitive movements of a particular joint. This includes sports people, for example footballers tend to develop arthritis in their knees and ankles as a consequence of injuries sustained to these parts. There is no evidence however, that suggests that physically active people who are not injured through sport have a higher risk of arthritis. Some studies have suggested that gout may sometimes be a contributing factor to causing arthritis.

However, as mentioned earlier, nobody really knows what the exact cause of arthritis is. There are many people around the world though attempting to discover what the cause of arthritis may be.

Treatment
Each different form of arthritis may require a different form of treatment and management of the conditions and symptoms of the particular type of arthritis you?re interested in. First of all, you should decide what your type of arthritis is. Once you?ve done that, then you can search for the various treatments.

One thing which is common though across most forms of arthritis, is that early treatment is essential as this will mean that further damage to your joints is reduced and your quality of life is improved.

There will probably be a wide range of medical professionals involved in your treatment. They will probably include your doctor, an arthritis specialist, a physiotherapist amongst many others.

A common theme though all the different kinds of treatment for arthritis though, is to reduce the inflammation and swelling of the joint affected. This can be done via various drugs and/or some kind of physiotherapy.

A number of sufferers of arthritis find the condition so debilitating and painful, that they resort to a joint replacement. A while ago, it was only hips, knees and shoulders that were replaced, however, now, most joints it is possible to replace.

Summary
Arthritis is a very painful and debilitating condition which affects many people, and can affect young and old alike. We have some idea as to what causes arthritis but as of yet, we don?t fully understand the causes. As such, it is quite difficult to figure out how to stop people from suffering from this condition. There are a number of treatments available for sufferers which may include various drugs or physiotherapy and even replacement of the joint.