What Is Arthritis?

Although the term arthritis is applied to a wide variety of disorders, arthritis means inflammation of a joint, whether the result of a disease, an infection, a genetic defect, or some other cause. Arthritis inflammation causes pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints and surrounding tissues. Many people, however, perceive arthritis as any kind of pain or discomfort associated with body movement, including such localized problems as low back pain, bursitis, tendinitis, and general stiffness or pain in the joints.

Quick Facts About Arthritis

Arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the United States, limiting the activities of nearly 21 million adults.

Some simple statistics are:

• 50 million (22%) of adults have self-reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis
• 21 million (9% of all adults) have arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation.
• 67 million (25%) adults aged 18 years and older will have doctor-diagnosed arthritis by the year 2030.
• An estimated 25 million adults (37%) of those with arthritis will report arthritis-attributable activity limitations.

Segmentation by Age Group and Gender.

Above are Three Graphs: [Red portions are the segments of the particular age group
without doctor-diagnosed Arthritis, Blue portions are the segments that do have doctor-diagnosed arthritis].

Above are Two Graphs: [Red portions are the segments of the particular gender group
without doctor-diagnosed Arthritis, Blue portions are the segments that do have doctor-diagnosed arthritis].

Osteoarthritis Arthritis

A degenerative joint disease, refers to the pain and swelling that can result from the progressive loss of cartilage in the joints. It is the most common form of arthritis, affecting nearly 27 million adults in the U.S., particularly the elderly. In osteoarthritis, the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of bones within joints gradually wears away, which is why it is sometimes called "wear and tear" arthritis. It can affect almost any joint in the body but commonly involves the weight-bearing joints: the knees, hips, and spine. It can also affect the fingers and any joint with previous injury from trauma, infection, or inflammation. The inner bone surfaces become exposed and rub together, and in some cases bony spurs develop on the edges of joints, causing damage to muscles and nerves, pain, deformity, and difficulty in movement.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis generally begins to affect people between ages 30 and 50. It affects women two to three times more often than men. It is the second most common form of arthritis, affecting 1.3 million people in the U.S. Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by inflammation, swelling, and pain in the hands, especially the knuckles and next closest finger joints, as well as in the wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, and feet. Generalized fatigue and sleeplessness are also part of rheumatoid arthritis. It can also cause damage to other parts of the body, including the lungs, eyes, nerves, and skin. The discomfort of rheumatoid arthritis usually develops and worsens over weeks or months and tends to be most severe on awakening.

Other common forms include Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and infectious arthritis.

For more information on Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Juvenile Arthritis, please visit the Arthritis Foundation at www.arthritis.org

If you want to make a donation to arthritis research please follow the link www.kintera.org