Page 22 - Florida Sentinel 5-27-22

Health
1. Osteoarthritis
This is the most common type of arthritis and happens when a joint is overused. In os- teoarthritis, the cartilage in your joints wear down and no longer protects the bones from rubbing together. The result is painful and inflamed joints.
Generally, this form of arthritis can be caused by an in- jury, age, obesity, or extended stress on weight-bearing joints. If you have osteoarthritis, a few of the symptoms you can expect are joint soreness, joint stiffness in the morning, and deep pain when walking.
2. Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is actu- ally an autoimmune disease where your immune system at- tacks the joints. In this case, there is likely to be a lot of joint
damage over time if the disease isn’t treated quickly.
People with undiagnosed rheumatoid arthritis tend to ex- perience significant pain and de- formed joints. If you have this illness, you may have pain, swelling, and stiffness in your joints that present in a symmet- rical manner.
3. Juvenile Arthritis
Juvenile arthritis typically occurs in children under the age of 16. It’s a general term for a group of conditions that cause joint pain and inflammation in children.
The most common type is ju- venile idiopathic arthritis. When children have arthritis, they may have pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints as well as joint mis- alignment. In some cases, they may also have a chronic fever and feel fatigued all the time.
4. Psoriatic Arthritis
In this condition, people who have the chronic skin condition, psoriasis, also have swollen joints. It most commonly affects the fingers but there are rare
cases where people with the ill- ness develop spine issues. If you have psoriasis, however, it does- n’t mean that you’ll automati- cally develop arthritis. Statistics show that it will only happen in 10-30% of people who have the disorder.
5. Infectious And Reactive Arthritis
Unlike other forms of arthri- tis, this form isn’t always chronic. In infectious arthritis, your body is responding to an in- fection in your body. This infec- tion may or may not have started in your joints and is usually ac- companied by a fever. Reactive arthritis, on the other hand, oc- curs when an infection triggers a dysfunctional reaction from your immune system.
The end result is joint pain and inflammation. In many cases, the infection is located in the gastrointestinal or reproduc- tive system.
6. Gout
When your body has a buildup of uric acid, you get gout. This build-up can happen because your body is producing too much of the mineral, it’s not being managed properly in the body, or you’re eating too much of the foods that promote uric acid production.
With gout, you may have in- tense pain in your big toe but also in your ankles, knees, el- bows, or wrists. It’s important to get gout under control quickly because it can lead to kidney and joint problems.
When some people hear the word ‘arthritis’, they usually think of one disorder. In reality, there are over 100 illnesses that can fall under the umbrella of that term and they’re categorized according to the type of joint pain or inflammation they can cause. By knowing how the symp- toms can differ, it will be easy for you to determine what could be caus- ing your pain.
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