Arthritis Case
Arthritis is a disease that in some way affects everyone. Whether you have arthritis or not, chances are, you know someone who does and can see the effect it has on them. There are some common misconceptions about arthritis, types of arthritis, and the causes. There are in fact some different types of the disease that most people dont know about.
One type of arthritis is osteoarthritis. It is a degenerative arthritis (a condition in which joint cartilage breaks down). New tissue, which grows at the ends of bones, has no cartilage cap to shape it. This new bone forms into lips and ridges that grind against each other and get in the way of how the joint moves. Osteoarthritis is common in older people after years of using a joint more than one usually uses one. The thin cartilage wears away on bone rubs on bone. Osteoarthritis can also result from diseases like Pagets disease (in which the long bones of the body curve), or osteoporosis. Osteoarthritis of the spine is called Spondylosis. This happens when joints degenerate and the weight of the body is supported unevenly. Other forms of arthritis can also cause whats called a secondary osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis does not happen to all people when they get old. Only some elderly people get the disease. Women are affected more than men. Usually their heredity and the strength of their immune systems are the cause. Medical science still isnt quite sure of all the reasons why some people get it and others dont. But they do offer some suggestions for treatment; exercising to keep joints flexible and improve muscle strength. Different medications are used to control pain include: corticosteroids, NSAIDs, and injected Glucocorticoids into joints that are inflamed, which are not responding to NSAIDs. Sometimes, Surgery is necessary to relieve chronic pain in damaged joints.
Another type is Rheumatoid arthritis. It is whats known as an inflammatory arthritis. It is the second most common form of arthritis, right behind osteoarthritis. It affects primarily the small joints in the hands and feet, causing crippling deformities. This is an arthritis that usually starts in middle-life or earlier. Estimates say one out of every hundred people, (females are two to three times as likely) suffer from it. It usually starts in the winter and after a common sickness, but it isnt considered an infective arthritis. Nobody knows what causes rheumatoid arthritis. It could be some hereditary trait. Scientists think that rheumatoid arthritis may be an autoimmune disease (that means the body acts as though it were allergic to itself). The immune system gets mixed up and attacks normal joint tissue instead of the infection it is supposed to attack.
Polyarthritis Nodosa is also an inflammatory arthritis. It can even be life threatening. However, it is a rarer form of arthritis. It affects four times as many males as females, and of those, mostly young