According to the CDC, around half of people suffering from arthritis are actually younger than you might think with only 49.6% of sufferers being over the age of 65. Arthritis literally stands for “inflammation of the joints:” Arthro refers to joints and itis denotes inflammation. In the spirit of World Arthritis Day on October 12th, let’s talk about the many different kinds of arthritis. We will talk about Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Childhood Arthritis, Lupus, Gout, and Fibromyalgia.
Osteoarthritis (OA)
The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis is often abbreviated as simply OA. You may hear it referred to as degenerative joint disease and it most commonly occurs in the knees, hips, and hands. It can show up fairly gradually and appears as painful, achy or stiff joints. One might experience a decreased range of motion or flexibility in the affected joints, and might sometimes include swelling.
Osteoarthritis is caused by general wear and tear. While not everyone will suffer from it, some people are more prone to osteoarthritis. This can be due to genetics, general lifestyle, or sex. Women are of course more prone to osteoarthritis due to their predisposition to osteoporosis as they age. There are four stages of osteoarthritis that ultimately end with bone-on-bone in the joint, causing extreme pain and may lead to the need for joint replacement therapies.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
This severely painful form of arthritis is caused by an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, causing the immune system to attack cells within the body. This causes inflammation primarily in the joints which leads to further damage. Unfortunately rheumatoid arthritis is not strictly specific to the knees, hips, and hands; it can affect all joints and can affect other tissues of the body, including the heart, eyes, or even the lungs.
This form of arthritis manifests with pain and stiffness that affects more than one joint, tenderness and swelling in the joints, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, and fevers. Unlike some other forms of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis will affect the body bilaterally. This means that if one hand is affected, the other hand will be as well. If one knee is affected, the other one will be as well. With rheumatoid arthritis, it is not uncommon for the joints to slowly become deformed as the inflammation damages the joints over time.
Risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis are genetics, history of smoking, being female, never having given birth if female, obesity, and being over the age of 60.
Blood Tests or Labs for Diagnosing Rheumatoid Arthritis
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Rheumatoid factor (RF)
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Antinuclear Antibody (ANA)
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Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)
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Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide (CCP)
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C-Reactive Protein (CRP)
Childhood Arthritis / Juvenile Arthritis
Generally, arthritis in children is called childhood arthritis and can have various causes. The most common type, called juvenile idiopathic arthritis — a type of rheumatoid arthritis— has an unknown cause, hence “idiopathic.” This form of childhood arthritis can damage the joints, making it difficult for the children to do normal daily activities.
Symptoms of childhood arthritis include many of the same we have mentioned above: joint pain, swelling of the joints, fever, stiffness, fatigue, loss of appetite, unknown rashes, eye inflammation, and difficulty performing activities of daily living (dressing, playing, walking).
This arthritis is diagnosed through x-rays and blood tests, as those listed above for diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
Lupus Related Arthritis
As you might have guessed, this type of arthritis is related to having the disease known as lupus. As lupus is an autoimmune disorder, it causes widespread inflammation in the bloodstream, which travels throughout the body. One of the most common symptom seen in lupus is arthritis, though it will not be the only symptom seen in those suffering with lupus.
Gout / Gouty Arthritis
Gout is an incredibly painful type of arthritis, caused by the depositing of uric acid into the affected joints. This acid will develop into crystals called monosodium urate, which will build up in the joints, fluids, and tissues within the body. When it deposits into the joints and causes arthritis, it becomes gouty arthritis and will not go away without treatment. You are at an increased risk of gouty arthritis if you are male, obese, use diuretics, drink alcohol, eat a diet high in fructose or purines, or if you have certain health conditions: congestive heart failure, diabetes, kidney failure, hypertension, insulin resistance, or metabolic syndromes.
Fibromyalgia
Arthritis that is linked with fibromyalgia is arthritis that occurs in those who are diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The arthritis will go through flare ups and stages of remission. The pain is related to the connective tissues in the joints as well as an amplification of pain signals in the nervous system. One third of fibromyalgia arthritis is progressive and can lead to physical activity intolerance.
