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TYPE OF ARTHRITISArthritis is a broad term which includes more than a 100 different type of arthritis. Some common types of arthritis include: • Ankylosing Spondylitis….(arthritis of the spine) • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome …..(a condition that affects the nerve traveling from the arm to the hand) • Childhood Arthritis ….(affecting children under the age of 16) • Chronic Back Injury ……( a disease that causes back pain for long periods of time) • Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH – or sometimes known as Forestier’s disease) …….( arthritis caused by excessive bone growth along the vertebrate of the spine) • Fibromyalgia ……..( marked by widespread pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons and causes severe sleeping discomfort) • Gout ……( excessive uric acid in the body that deposits in the joints and crystallizes) • Infectious Arthritis …..(joint inflammation due to the presence of a germ in the joint area) • Lupus ….(a group of diseases which causes healthy tissues to be attacked, resulting in pain and swelling of the joints) • Lyme Disease ………( inflammation in the joints and other parts of the body caused by the bite of a tick) • Osteoporosis ……(a disease where the bone breaks down after becoming brittle and thin) • Paget’s Disease ……( a disease that causes normal bone growth to break down and be replaced by softer bones) • Polymyalgia Rheumatica ……..( an arthritic condition affecting the muscles) • Polymyositis and Dermatomyositis ………….(a muscle-weakening condition that sometimes causes skin rashes) • Pseudo gout ……….(similar to gout, this disease deposits excess calcium in the joint area) • Psoriatic Arthritis …….(joint pain and swelling combined with a scaly rash on the skin) • Raynaud’s Phenomenon ……..( prohibits normal blood flow to all areas of the body, therefore causing tissue damage) • Reactive Arthritis ………(bacterial arthritis that causes pain and swelling in the joints as the disease travels through the body) • Reiter’s Syndrome ………(a form of reactive arthritis that also affects the skin, eyes, and muscles) • Repetitive Stress Injury ………( arthritis caused by repeated stress on a joint) • Rheumatoid Arthritis ………( caused by the body’s immune system that turns and attacks healthy joints, this disease results in pain and feelings of heat within the joints) • Scleroderma …………( a condition that hardens the skin but can also affect muscles and joints) • Sjögren’s ……….( a condition that initially causes dry eyes and mouth, but can also affect joints and muscles as well) Arthritis most often affects areas in or around joints. Joints are parts of the body where bones meet, such as your knee. Different types of arthritis can affect one or more parts of a joint. This often results in a change of shape and alignment in the joints. Certain types of arthritis can also affect other parts of the body such as the skin and internal organs. It is important to know which type of arthritis you have so you can treat it properly. If you don't know which type of arthritis you have, call your doctor or ask during your next visit. No one knows what causes arthritis, though scientists have uncovered a host of clues. Something can be done to manage most type of arthritis, but it's very important that a correct diagnosis is established early. Most therapies work best when started early in the disease process. |
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