Arthritis is the word used to describe pain and stiffness in joints. About 10 million people in the UK have arthritis. It is most common in older people but can also occur in children.
Osteoarthritis
The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis (OA). It is often attributed to “wear and tear” of joints that occurs over time. It can occur in only one joint, or in several.
Tiny bits of extra bone (called osteophytes) can grow within a joint, there can be an increase in the amount of fluid in the joint and the joint capsule can stretch. These changes can lead to pain and stiffness. It usually affects bigger joints like knees and hips but can also affect the hands and the back.
Keeping active, doing regular exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight can improve symptoms. Simple painkillers like paracetamol and ibuprofen can also help. If symptoms become severe and quality of life is affected, then joint replacement surgery might be recommended.
Gout
Gout is a type of arthritis that can cause painful swelling in joints, often the big toe, caused by urate crystals. Usually the skin around the joint will look red, shiny and swollen. Being overweight, a diet high in red meat, seafood, sugar and fat, and drinking a lot of alcohol can cause gout.
Simple painkillers can help, or medicine to reduce the amount of urate in the body might be required.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a type of inflammatory arthritis known as an auto-immune condition. This means the immune system (which usually fights infection) will attack the joints instead, causing pain, swelling and stiffness. As well as these symptoms, the inflammation caused can cause permanent damage to the joint.
Symptoms include swollen and tender joints which is worse in the morning and feeling generally unwell.
It usually starts in the small joints in the hands and feet. It will normally affect joints on both sides of the body at once. It is more common in women between the ages of 40 and 60.
There are medicines called disease-modifying-anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) which can slow down the immune system and reduce the pain and swelling in joints.
Spondyloarthritis
Spondyloarthritis is the collective term for conditions that cause and pain and swelling of the spine. Ankylosing spondylitis is one type which causes pain and swelling around the joints of the spine. It usually occurs in people aged between 20 and 30, is worse at night and early in the morning and can be treated with medication.
Psoriatic Arthritis is another type of spondyloarthritis which causes painful swelling of the joints and a red, scaly rash on the skin. It is an auto-immune condition (like Rheumatoid Arthritis) and can be treated with the same medication (DMARDs). It usually affects people who already have psoriasis, but occasionally the symptoms of arthritis develop before the skin rash.
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
If a person is diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis before their 16th birthday, it is called Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).
Patients will feel the symptoms in other parts of the body as well as in the joints. Arthritis can negatively affect the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, liver, salivary glands, bone marrow and blood vessels.
Successful treatment can be achieved using various drugs – those that relieve the symptoms and those that slow down the progression of the disease. Sometimes surgical assistance is needed. It is very important to seek professional help if arthritis is suspected.
