Just the word “arthritis” is enough to inspire fear in most adults and old people. Commonly associated with intense inflammation and pain, arthritis is typically though of as a condition that only affects the elderly. However, this is a misconception that disregards the many different types of arthritis. While the many different variations of arthritis affect different parts of the body, they all have one thing in common: the painful inflammation that everyone knows and dreads.

The Most Common Kind Is Revealed

There are so many different types of arthritis, with the most common and well known type being Osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the epitome of what everyone associates with arthritis—it affects the elderly and typically places the most stress on the feet, hips, spine, knees, and base of the thumbs. Osteoarthritis is also affected by genetic predisposition. However, despite the fact that the symptoms of osteoarthritis are the ones most often associated with arthritis, they are not the only ones.

Counting All The Other Kinds

The other types of arthritis vary in the age bracket and area of the body that they affect. The two most common types of arthritis besides osteoarthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and gout Rheumatoid arthritis is the most serious type of arthritis, having the potential to shorten one’s lifespan by up to eighteen years. It only affects about 1% of the population, and is known as the autoimmune form of arthritis. Gout is a common form of arthritis that is caused by monosodium urate crystals and usually affects the joints and kidneys.

Psoriatic arthritis refers to inflamed skin and can affect virtually anyone, not just old people. Fibromyalgia is caused by a defective neurotransmitter in the brain, and those who are affected by it often exhibit odd symptoms. Even lyme disease is considered a type of arthritis! When the body is infected by Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted by deer ticks, it causes inflammation of the joints.

Other types of arthritis include: poliomyelitis, polymyalgia rheumatica, pseudogout, reactive arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and ankylosing spondylitis.

The Tool Of Knowledge

Though knowing about the different types of arthritis might not seem very useful, it can in fact be extremely valuable knowledge. Just being aware that there are over one hundred different types of arthritis might help one in self diagnosing themselves with a variation of the condition. And with many types of arthritis, the sooner they are diagnosed, the better.