Arthritis Awareness Month

Arthritis is derived from the Greek term “disease of the joints.”

Arthritis is an umbrella term for more than 100 medical conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system (your body’s bones and muscles). It specifically affects the joints where two or more bones meet.

It is very common, affecting 1 in 6 Australians, and the term includes conditions that we don’t often identify as part of the arthritis spectrum, such as Gout or Growing Pains.

They are all life-altering and can create a lot of discomfort and pain in sufferers but, with the right treatment, the symptoms can be kept under control and patients can have a good quality of life.

Among the most prevalent types of arthritis we have:

• Osteoarthritis: Also called degenerative arthritis, it affects the whole joint including bone, cartilage, ligaments and muscles. Although often described as ‘wear and tear’, it’s thought to be the result of a joint working extra hard.
• Rheumatoid arthritis: an autoimmune disease that causes pain and swelling of the joints.It usually affects hands or feet and it can lead to deformities.
• Ankylosing Spondylitis: it affects the spine and it’s thought to be genetic.
• Gout: in this type of arthritis, small crystals form in and around the joints, causing inflammation, pain and swelling. These crystals are made of one of the body’s normal waste products, uric acid. Normally the body rids itself of extra uric acid through the kidneys into the urine. However, this does not happen fast enough in people with gout. This causes uric acid levels to build up and the crystals to form.
• Psoriatic arthritis: only one or two out of every 10 people with psoriasis will develop this type of arthritis.

There are many other conditions that are included under the umbrella of arthritis. That’s why an expert medical opinion is crucial to determine the best treatment.

Your doctor will determine if you have arthritis based on medical history and exploration, and sometimes x-rays and blood tests.

While no cure is available, there are treatments to relieve pain and in some cases reduce the chances of symptom recurrence.

Overall, treatment focuses on:

• Pain management
• Lifestyle changes to reduce weight, change certain movements, exercise
• Physiotherapy
• Specific medications to treat the underlying cause, e.g. to reduce uric acid in cases of gout.
• Surgery

Although there’s no cure for Arthritis, the outlook for most people with Arthritis is very positive. For many people Arthritis will be mild and not cause major problems.