When your muscles or joints start aching for no particular reason, you may find yourself wondering if you are starting to suffer from some form of arthritis.
Here is some information about the disease from about.com to help you decide if you need to discuss your aches and pains with your health care provider:
Arthritis literally means “joint inflammation”. Many people think arthritis is a single disease, but it’s not. Arthritis refers to a group of more than 100 rheumatic diseases and other conditions that can cause pain, stiffness and swelling in the joints.
The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis can affect anyone at any age, including children. The incidence of arthritis increases with age, but nearly 3 out of 5 people with arthritis are under age 65.
If left undiagnosed and untreated, many types of arthritis can cause irreversible damage to the joints, bones, organs, and skin.
Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease, results from wear and tear. There is cartilage damage which can lead to decreased joint function. The first signs of osteoarthritis are:
• joint pain
• joint tenderness
• joint swelling
• decreased joint function
Initially, osteoarthritis is non-inflammatory and its onset is subtle and gradual, usually involving one or only a few joints. The joints most often affected are the knees, hips, hands and spine.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease which occurs when the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks the cell lining inside the joint. Rheumatoid arthritis is chronic and potentially disabling. The first signs of the disease are:
• joint pain
• joint stiffness
• joint swelling
• loss of joint function
While the cause remains elusive, doctors suspect that genetic factors play some role. Rheumatoid arthritis can be difficult to diagnose because it can begin gradually with subtle symptoms.
