When most people think of arthritis, they look at the crippling ailment that attacks later in life, robbing a person of their mobility and causing great pain. While the most common form, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis get the brunt of the blame for this crippling, there are over 100 types of arthritis that have been identified. By its basic definition, arthritis means joint inflammation and many diseases that cause an inflammation in joint cartilage or joint tissues is considered one of the types of arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common of the types of arthritis, affecting nearly 20 million people. It is a degenerative disorder with which the cartilage cushioning the joints slowly disintegrates, allowing the bones to rub together causing pain and reducing mobility. Rheumatoid arthritis, the second most seen of the many types of arthritis is caused by inflammation of the cartilage and can be equally as painful and immobilizing.

One of the types of arthritis involves the formation of crystals in the cartilage, which causes pain and deterioration of the cartilage. Monosodium urate crystal deposits form one of the types of arthritis called gout, which affects the mobility of the affected joint as well as causes pain. A variant of the crystal formation may lead to the diagnosis of pseudogout.

Many Problems Respond To Medical Treatment

Unlike osteoarthritis, some types of arthritis have been responsive to medical intervention, such as polymyalgia rheumatica which causes stiffness and aching in the affected joints. Since it closely resembles other forms of arthritis, it is difficult to diagnose, however it is treatable with medicine. Ankylosing spondylitis is caused by an infection in the spine and sacroiliac joints and causes pain and stiffness in the lower back.

Psoriatic arthritis is one of the types of arthritis caused by serious inflammation, which can be treated it diagnosed quickly. The inflammation can spread from tissues surrounding the joints and into the cartilage, where the damage can be permanent if not treated responsibly. Another of the types of arthritis caused by inflammation of the joints is lyme disease. Most commonly caused by bacteria carried by the deer tick, this form of arthritis can be treated, but the infection must be responded to quickly.

There are many other types of arthritis that may not seem a logical pairing to what many view as loss of mobility and joint stiffness. However, many different causes of infection and inflammation of joint tissue results in joint inflammation, meeting the basic definition of arthritis.