What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is an illness that can cause pain and swelling in your joints. Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Some kinds of arthritis can cause problems in other organs, such as your eyes, or in your chest. It can affect your skin, too.

Types of arthritis

Osteoarthritis-This type of arthritis is the one people think of as being associated with aging. osteoarthritis affects weight-bearing areas such as the spine, hips, knees, base of the thumbs, and feet. Genetics and mechanical factors also play a big role. Research is being done on medications that will slow down the progression of this disease.

Gout - Gout is a painful condition that occurs when the body cannot eliminate a natural substance called uric acid. The excess uric acid forms needle-like crystals in the joints that cause swelling and severe pain. Gout most often affects the big toe, knee and wrist joints.

Lupus arthritis - Lupus arthritis is the most common manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, or SLE. SLE, like rheumatoid arthritis, is an auto-immune condition where the body's immune system causes damage to the joints. The most commonly affected joints in SLE are the hands, wrists, and knees

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the umbrella term for arthritis in childhood – idiopathic means of unknown cause

Bacterial arthritis - In cats, joints most often become infected as a result of bite wounds. The joint becomes swollen, painful, warm to the touch, and the cat will often not want to bear any weight on the affected leg. The cat often has a fever and will not eat. At times, the infection can spread from the joint to the bone (bone infection is termed 'osteomyelitis').

Symptoms of Arthritis

1) stiffness,

2) swelling

3) Joints that are tender to the touch

4) Red and puffy hands

5) Firm bumps of tissue under the skin on your arms (rheumatoid nodules)

6) Fatigue

7) Morning stiffness that lasts at least 30 minutes

8) Fever

9) Weight loss

Cure of Arthritis

Strengthening Exercises - Strengthening exercises help increase muscle strength. Strong muscles help to support the joints, making the joints more stable, and helping a person move more easily and with less pain. The two types of strengthening exercises are isometric and isotonic.

Biologics - Rheumatoid arthritis is a result of the complex interplay among cells called lymphocytes, cells called macrophages, and the messenger signals they communicate with, called cytokines. Biologic medications work by targeting these different areas. In essence, they work with laser-like precision on the immune system.

Viscosupplementation - Viscosupplementation has been shown to relieve pain in many patients who cannot get relief from nonmedicinal measures or analgesic drugs. The technique has been used in Europe and Asia for several years, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not approve it until 1997, and then only for treating osteoarthritis of the knee. Several preparations of hyaluronic acid are now commercially available.