Arthritis is known to affect around forty percent of the Americans and over fifty percent of the people globally. This is one disease that is responsible for the maximum amount of pain worldwide and thousands of dollars have been spent on pain relief medications because of this. Arthritis is one of the oldest diseases known to mankind which could date back to thousands of years - in fact the Romans were believed to have built the roman baths for therapeutic reasons other than hygiene - as the hot water baths were used by ancient Romans to ease the pains associated with arthritis. The word 'arthritis' is a blend of the ancient Greek word 'arthron' which translated literally means 'joint' and the word 'it is' which means inflammation - the disease being inflammation of the joint. Arthritis is an autoimmune disease disorder, which causes inflammation, pain and stiffness of the joints and connective tissues. This may be accompanied by redness, swelling and warmth of the joints, which are medically identified as signs of inflammation of the joints. Connective tissues are a set of supporting tissues for the joints - typical examples of connective tissue being - cartilages, tendons, ligaments and muscles. Arthritis is a wide spectrum of disease conditions that include well over one hundred diseases - predominantly those of 'Rheumatoid Arthritis' which can occur at any age and 'Osteoarthritis ' which usually occurs after sixty years of age. Arthritis is an autoimmune disease that is known to occur due to a disorder of the immune system and usually continues throughout life with periods of remission (characterized by total absence of disease symptoms) and exacerbation (with increasing severity of disease). The disease is known to occur more often in women as compared to men. Arthritis is known to present in a variety of ways such as some arthritic conditions are chronic while others are intermittent such as Gout. The arthritic conditions are either inflammatory or degenerative. The inflammatory form of arthritis is characterized by the presence of swelling, redness and warmth of the involved joints while the degenerative form of arthritis is best identified as having a small element of inflammation and being predominantly degenerative - which is best known for the wearing out of the cartilages lining the joints. Simply put, arthritis can be defines as any inflammation of the joint and could either be chronic or short term in duration. There is no simple cure for arthritis, however there are many natural remedies available which can ease the severity of arthritis symptoms and effect a repair on cartilage. Copyright 2006 Wendy Owen |
