General Medical Advices

Medical Description
The term Arthritis (from Greek arthron: joint) includes more than one hundred diseases characterized by inflammation in one or more joints, and whose causes are various. It can be an acute or chronic. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are the most common forms of arthritis.

Previously, we used instead the word rheumatism (rheumatismus the Latin for “flow of fluids) to refer to all these diseases that are accompanied by pain in joints or surrounding tissue. This term is now considered obsolete by the Arthritis Society of Canada.

Pain, swelling and often redness and warmth to the joints are typical of these diseases.

Inflammation may occur as a result of shock, diseases, infections or simple wear and tear, but can also be the consequence of an autoimmune disease whereby the body attacks its own tissues. Sometimes, the joints swell for no apparent reason.

Types of Arthritis
The two most common forms:
* Osteoarthritis. Also called osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis, they say it is formed “to wear.” The appearance of the small bony features. It mainly affects joints that bear much of the body weight, such as the hips and knees. Osteoarthritis is caused by overweight or repeated use of a joint (a professional occupation or a sport). It usually appears in midlife.
* Rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation throughout the body, which distinguishes it from osteoarthritis. The joints of the hands, wrists and feet are often affected first and become deformed. Curiously, this type of arthritis occurs early in adulthood. Although scientists have not yet discovered its cause, it seems to be of autoimmune origin and influenced by genetics and lifestyle, especially diet.

Other common forms of arthritis:

* infectious: it can occur when an infection reaches directly articulation and creates inflammation;
* Reactive arthritis: This form of arthritis also appears to result from infection, but it occurs elsewhere in the body;
* Juvenile arthritis: a rare form of rheumatoid arthritis occurring in children and adolescents, and often diminishes with age;
* Psoriatic arthritis: a form of arthritis that is accompanied by skin lesions typical of psoriasis;
* Bursitis: a painful inflammation of the buffer zones of articulations (bursa) often caused by pressure or friction;
* Gout and pseudogout: crystal deposition in joints, in the form of uric acid in cases of gout or calcium phosphate in case of pseudogout, causes inflammation and pain;
* Lupus: it is considered a form of arthritis since it is a chronic inflammatory disease of connective tissue;
* Polymyositis: a rare disease which causes inflammation in the muscles, which then lose their force;
* Scleroderma: an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic hardening of the skin, which can affect the joints and cause the typical symptoms of arthritis;
* Ankylosing spondylitis: a chronic inflammation of the joints of the vertebrae of the back which gradually expands and causes stiffness and pain in the back, torso and hips;
* Sjögren’s syndrome: an autoimmune disease that causes severe chronic inflammation of connective tissue and often accompanied by rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma and polymyositis;
* Tendonitis: inflammation of a tendon often caused by trauma (stretching abrupt, direct impact, technical defect in a sport) that causes joint pain. Consult our section Joints (sports and work).

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