Gaining Awareness of the Typical Varieties of Arthritis
Posted: Saturday, December 20, 2008
by Trevor Price
When a patient has arthritis, the type of arthritis with which they are diagnosed can make a major difference in how it's dealt with both at a personal and medical level. Experience with arthritis shows up in the form of painful joints, but there are many symptoms that can distinguish one condition from others.
Osteoarthritis
This is the best known form of the disease, resulting in the degeneration of the joints. Elderly people generally experience this most. Despite the generality, osteoarthritis can surface much earlier in a person's life, possibly caused by an injury, hereditary or congenital disorder, metabolic disorder, or trauma.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is very different from osteoarthritis. With this form of the disease, the immune system malfunctions, causing the synovial joints to inflame. However, though inflammation is a common response of the immune system, the body is unable to control it. This inflammation and swelling weakens the ligaments and the joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis can not only lead to deformity, but it can also be very painful. When a patient is experiencing an inflammation, simple tasks like opening a bottle or using a pen can be extremely painful and almost impossible. Rheumatoid arthritis will either worsen or often stay stable for a number of years before deteriorating further.
Rheumatoid arthritis progresses through five different stages. Stage 1 generally has no symptoms and inflammation is detected by results from a lab. Stage 2 stands out when the immune system gears up, causing mild stiffness of the joints and other problems.
Stage 3 sees increased swelling and decreased mobility. This is the stage where drug treatments are usually introduced. Stage 4 experiences the disease spreading to the cartilage and joints. A stage 5 diagnosis means the damage caused by the rheumatoid arthritis is often irreparable.
A diagnostic conclusion of rheumatoid arthritis is typically founded on the existence of the following symptoms for a period longer than six weeks - stiffness of the joints after awakening, swelling in finger or joints of the wrists, soft tissue swelling around joints and swelling on each side of a joint.
Spondyloarthropathies
The term spondyloarthropathies actually refers to a number of arthritic disorders that affect the spine. Though it's the third most common form of arthritis, it's actually a blanket term to cover conditions such as psoriatic arthritis, intestinal arthropathy, reactive anthropathy, Reiter's syndrome and more.
If you think you have an arthritis type of any of the kind listed above, then you should talk to your doctor about testing and obtaining possible treatment. The earlier arthritis is diagnosed, the better the patient's long term quality of life.
About the Author:
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