Arthritis As we grow older our bodies begin to degenerate, and stop working. There are many different kinds of diseases that we are subject to as we age, cancers, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, and many others. All have a negative affect on our lives, making it difficult to function.Arthritis is the second leading chronic disease in the United States. Arthritis occurs when the body incorrectly identifies its own tissue as foreign matter and attacks it. Arthritis includes a set of more than eighty autoimmune diseases. Arthritis attacks connective tissues and joints. It causes stiffness, pain, inflammation, and swelling of the joints. Some kinds are crippling, but rarely lead to death. There are many different kinds of arthritis, the main ones being Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis; others include gout and ankylosing spodylitis. Almost everyone develops osteoarthrits as they age, some get it while in there fifties and in others it does not appear until their eighties. Osteoarthritis is the most common form that affects older people; this form of the disease wears down the cartilage mostly through overuse and injury but there are other causes. This specific form of the disease causes the cartilage to break down and the bones to rub against each other. Deformity and swelling occurs because knobs of hardened bits of cartilage develop in the joint it forms especially if a joint has been injured many times. Arthritis affects the hips, knees, spine, hands, lower back, neck, and knuckles. Osteoarthritis spreads throughout the body damaging organs and connective tissue. Osteoarthritis cannot be cured. Physicians seek only to relieve the pain and prevent the patient from becoming disabled. A surgeon may repair a severely damaged joint or replace it with a joint made of metal or plastic.“About five percent of the people that have arthritis have Rheumatoid arthritis.”(Encyclopedia 2000) Rheumatoid arthritis...
