Not as bad as frequent.
The osteoarthritis, so widespread, affecting mainly the joints of the knees, hands and hips, but sometimes the spine, and is due to degeneration of cartilage covering the ends of bones. May occur prematurely if the joints have been extensively used, as in some sports and professions. Sometimes quite incapacitating consequences, such as in arthritis hip, which in extreme cases require a hip replacement implant.

The tendinitis is inflammation of a tendon, is hip, shoulder, knee, or Achilles tendon. Tendinitis can develop a force overuse these body parts in a sport or a repetition of movement in any profession or manual. It is not uncommon; for example, see hiker’s patients suffering tendinitis in his heels after a long march with the wrong shoes, what has caused repetitive micro trauma to the Achilles tendon.

The sciatica is also very common. It often appears after exercise or poor posture, and is manifested by pain in the lower back at the level of the lumbar spine (low back). The pain, which can be very disabling, follows the path of the sciatic nerve and sometimes down the leg, along the thigh.

To get an idea of the number of cases, it is considered that the osteoarthritis knee, tendinitis in the arm, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis represent a total of approximately 60% of the diagnoses of rheumatism.

What is rheumatoid arthritis?
The arthritis is an inflammatory disease of the joints. There is talk of mono-arthritis if it affects only one joint, oligoarthritis if it affects some more, until three, and poly-arthritis when inflammatory signs are present in four or more joints. Many poly-arthritis debut initially as mono-arthritis. Not yet fully know the mechanisms of this disease, also called arthritis chronic progressive, unless is a autoimmune disease.

These occurs more frequency in the joints of the hands and wrists and finally produces deformations and bone loss. It manifests itself especially among 40 and 60 and affects women more. Certain forms may appear after age 70 and approximately ten percent are hereditary.

What is the process of this disease?
The term rheumatoid arthritis means that there are rheumatoid factors in the blood, but not systematically. Normally, inflammation is a sign that our natural defenses, also called immune defenses, are acting against external aggression. In the case of this disease, inflammation occurs in the synovial membrane, which covers and lubricates the interior of a joint. Therefore it is said that the arthritis is an autoimmune disease that attacks the body itself.

Another feature is the alternation of periods of crisis, also called "shoots", during which the pain can be particularly intense, and periods of calm. Inflammation is manifested in multiple environments at once: in the symposium in the tendon sheath, cartilage and bone. As a result of inflammation, synovial membrane produces more fluid than necessary, it is accumulated, the membrane becomes thicker, the joint becomes swollen, the surrounding tissues harden and become painful. This process can cause irreparable damage to the joint, producing deformations and eventually disability. The rheumatoid arthritis is recognized as a disabling disease.