Basic Arthritis Pain and Treatment Info

Joint under attack by arthritis

MYTH: Arthritis pain affects only older people.

FACT: Arthritis pain affects any age, including children. Over half of people with arthritis are under age 65.

MYTH: Arthritis pain is just minor aches and pains.

FACT: Arthritis pain can cause permanent disability.

MYTH: Arthritis pain cannot be treated.

FACT: The FDA has approved several arthritis treatments for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

These myths keep people from seeking a doctor's help against the number one cause of disability in the United States. Arthritis disables more Americans than heart disease and stroke, and the Center of Disease Control says it's what Americans don't know about the disease that can hurt them.

"People ignore arthritis both as public and personal health problems because it doesn't kill you," says Chad Helmick, a medical epidemiologist at the Center of Disease Control. "But what they don't realize is that as Americans work and live longer, arthritis can affect their quality of life and eventually lead to disability." Current costs to the U.S. economy total nearly $65 billion annually-an impact equal to a moderate recession.

And the extent of the suffering is going to get worse. Arthritis pain already affects more than 42 million Americans in its chronic form, including 300,000 children. By 2020, CDC estimates that 60 million people will be affected, and that more than 12 million will be disabled.

Arthritis covers at least 25 different diseases and has many forms. Arthritis is the archetype of a holistic disease. The most common forms are osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease), rheumatoid arthritis and gout. In addition to attacking joints, these illnesses may also strike neighboring tissue and organs such as muscles or even distant parts of the body such as heart, kidneys, lungs and liver.

Arthritic conditions tend to be chronic, once a person has a form of arthritis, the symptoms are likely to last a long time and may be a source of periodic discomfort or worse the rest of their life. The number of cases of chronic physical disability resulting from arthritis is second only to heart disease.

Older people are most offer effected by Osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease, the joints just wear out. This often happens along with some softening of the bones. Softening of the bones is called osteoporosis and it often effects older women.

Arthritis is the nation's number one crippling disease and the most common chronic disease in people over 40. More than 40 million Americans are effected by arthritis. This figure is expected to rise to 60 million by 2020, according to the Center for Disease Control. Arthritis takes second place only to heart disease as a cause of work disability. It results in more than 39 million doctor visits and over 500 thousand hospitalizations; mostly for joint (specifically for the hip) replacements.

Arthritis generally afflicts people between the ages of 20 and 50, but can affect all ages, even infants. The average age of onset is 47 and about three out of every five people with arthritis are under 65 years of age.

Arthritis is an expensive aliment. More than $150,000 can be lost by a single individual in lost wages, medical treatment and other related expenses in his or her lifetime.

And doctors believe there are over 100 different forms of arthritis. All forms of arthritis have one trait in common, all forms of arthritis cause joint inflammation.

Is there an arthritis treatment?

There are many routes to self help arthritis treatment. In this series we will examine all of the major actions you can take. Weight, nutrition and stress free exercise are only a couple of factors that play a role in arthritic arthritis pain. Shedding even 10 pounds to relieve weight from knees, finding the right nutritional strategy, and increasing your activity level can help relieve arthritis pain a lot.

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