Types Of Arthritis
What are the different types of arthritis? Arthritis is a joint disorder. It happens when one or more joints in the body get inflamed. This then causes different aches in the body, wherever the arthritis may be. There are two main types of arthritis. Each is located in different joints of the body. These types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is basically the wear and tear of joints. This happens to almost 33 million people in America alone. As mentioned above, these are types of arthritis wherein the joints become overused. Hence, they get damaged. There are many different causes of these types of arthritis. The most common causes include aging and sports. It can also be caused by obesity. The thing about osteoarthritis is that they commonly occur in joints that are meant to bear weight. These joints include the knees, feet, and the spine. It doesn’t happen overnight. Actually, it takes time to develop. People don’t normally notice that they have these types of arthritis. This is because these do not have many symptoms. The only symptom that one will be able to notice is that there will be pain in the areas of the joint.
In osteoarthritis, there is breaking down of cartilages. The cartilages are the material that covers the end of the bones. They are like the shock absorber of the bones. When there is overuse of the joints, these cartilages get affected and eventually wear out. The pains you feel in these types of arthritis are basically caused by your rubbing bones, given that the cartilage has been worn out. Every time you will move that certain joint, you will notice that you will feel some sort of grating sound. On the ends of the bones, there may be bumps that will appear. When these bumps are not cured, they will get inflamed.
Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is the more common of the types of arthritis. Studies show that most of the people that get this are women. These are basically autoimmune diseases. Here, the immune system is the one attacking the body. When this happens, the joints of the body are the first to react. As time passes by, the joints get inflamed and then lead to these types of arthritis. When symptoms of these types of arthritis exhibits, this means that you already have a severe case. Some of the symptoms of the rheumatoid arthritis include fatigue, appetite loss, stiffness, and pain. There are many different causes of rheumatoid arthritis. This happens when the cells of the body recognize that there is something in your body that isn’t normal. There is a certain protein that causes this. However, there hasn’t been solid evidence for as to what that protein is. Basically, the immune system gets confused with this protein. It then ends up attacking the joints of the body. When this happens, lymphocytes get released by the immune system. They battle with these chemicals and cause the inflammation of the joints – hence the arthritis.
