What is Arthritis?
Arthritis means disease or damage to a joint. There are over 200 types of arthritis,
which fall into 2 main groups.
Osteoarthritis:
This is the commonest
form of arthritis. In this condition, the cartilage becomes thinner and damaged and extra bone forms at the edges
of the joint. It can result from abnormal stress on the joints, or from many different forms of injury or joint disease. However,
many cases develop without any obvious reason. Usually only a few joints are involved. The hips, knees and hands are most
likely to be affected, but osteoarthritis can occur in any joint.
More information
about osteoarthritis can be found here:
http://www.arc.org.uk/about_arth/booklets/6025/6025.htm
Inflammatory
arthritis:
This involves inflammation of the joint lining (synovium). This can damage the surface
of the joint and the underlying bone itself. Usually many joints are affected. Rheumatoid arthritis is an example, but there
are many other forms of inflammatory arthritis, including:
- Gout and pseudogout
- Reactive arthritis
- Arthritis associated with colitis
or psoriasis
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Rarer disorders that can affect many
parts of the body - the connective tissue diseases. An example is systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
To download Information Sheets on exercise and Rheumatoid Disease
select from the links below:
