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All arthritis conditions affect the musculoskeletal system and joints which causes pain, stiffness, inflammation, and damage to the joint cartilage. The joints are protected by tissue called cartilage which ensures the ends of bones don't rub against one another. Therefore, because of this, cartilage has the exact same needs as the other glands and organs; cartilage cells are referred to as chondrocytes. New cartilage cells or chondrocytes are replaced with new ones as they die. The swelling damages cartilage cells faster than the body can re-generate and this cause problems. You will find this especially true if an injury has occurred or if there aren't enough of the necessary nutrients within the body to repair the joint. Instability, joint weakness and deformities can be caused by this condition which will start affecting normal day to day activities. Generally, arthritis can be treated with physical therapy, medication, and changes to the lifestyle the individual is used to living. The last option left for the physicians to relieve the patients from discomfort is joint replacement surgery. There are two main categories that arthritis can be grouped into, these categories are based on the 'generalized' or 'localized' areas of the joints or body that have been affected and then they branch off into sub-categories. When the soft tissues that cover the bones or the joints are damaged it is considered as a localized condition and is also known as bursitis or tendinitis. A sub-category of this affects one or some of the joints like hip or knee joints. Generalized arthritis conditions involve a sub category where there is no swelling or inflammation but the muscle and soft tissue are affected. In this condition there is no evident kind of damage caused to the joints and is known as Fibromyalgia; this form of the condition is widespread among people. In the second sub-group is a condition in which the person suffering from this condition may have swelling on the whole body. Rheumatoid arthritis, gout and psoriatic arthritis come under this category. Vasculities (affects all the organs), polymyositis (affects muscles) and erythematosus (affects kidney, skin and other organs) are the other conditions that belong to the generalized category. An individual is capable of having more than just one arthritis type and it includes over one hundred different medical conditions that are known to affect roughly forty six million adults and three hundred thousand children within the United States. As early on as infancy, this condition can begin, even though it is most commonly seen in adults that are over the age of sixty, in the primary form of osteoarthritis. As the population within America ages, the number of individuals that are suffering from arthritis is constantly increasing. Arthritis and related illnesses are the cause of major disability in the U.S. and costs over 124 billion dollars a year in medical care and indirect expenses. Osteoarthritis can be prevented by taking a few precautionary measures; these include, maintaining suitable or appropriate body weight, and consuming plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are good sources for the vitamins C and D. Consumption of calcium is very important, adults must consume about 1000-1500mg calcium every day, exercising daily is a must and one must avoid injuries that may damage the joints.
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