Arthritis

Degenerative Arthritis (otherwise known as Osteoarthritis): Osteoarthritis is the result of the breakdown of cartilage and other connective tissue surrounding the joints. Degenerative arthritis affects almost 33 million adults in the US making it the most common form of arthritis. Since osteoarthritis attacks the cartilage around joints it affects just about every part of the body from knees and hips to low back, to the fingers. Due to the pain caused by the degeneration, people with osteoarthritis eventually end up with difficulty walking or using their hands. Unless due to an injury or other associated type of disease, osteoarthritis typically develops after the age of 40. Women and those with a family history are at higher risk.

Infectious Arthritis: If you have an infection inside your joint, you have infectious arthritis (otherwise known as septic arthritis). Infectious arthritis usually occurs when you have a bacterial infection somewhere else in your body and the bacteria travels through your bloodstream to a joint or the fluid around the joint. The most common bacteria that causes these infections is Staphylococcus aureus (staph), a bacterium that lives on healthy skin. Infectious arthritis can also be caused by a virus or a fungus. If you have a surgery or get an open wound or an injection, it is also possible for an infection to enter your blood stream and end up infecting your joint. Infectious arthritis usually occurs in only one joint.
Septic arthritis symptoms usually progress quickly and include intense swelling, pain, fever and chills. Infectious arthritis is usually found in the knee, but it can affect hips, ankles or wrists.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, autoimmune disease and falls under the classification of inflammatory arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is the result of the immune system attacking the body via the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis causes damage to cartilage and ligaments and softens the bones. It also attacks symmetrically, meaning it attacks the same joint on both sides of the body. In some people, the condition can damage other body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels. Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis can include joint stiffness that is usually worse after inactivity (like after waking), fatigue, fever, loss of appetite and tender, warm and swollen joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can be diagnosed with a blood test.

Psoriatic Arthritis: Psoriasis is a disease that causes skin cells to multiply up to 10 times faster than normal. The result is that the skin develops bumpy red patches covered with white scales (or if dark skinned, the patches can appear purplish, violet, or brown with gray scales). These scaly patches can appear anywhere, but most often appear on the scalp, elbows, knees, and lower back. The National Psoriasis Foundation estimates that between 10% to 30% of people with psoriasis also have psoriatic arthritis. Psoriasis: Pictures, Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment (webmd.com) Psoriatic arthritis can be diagnosed with a blood test.

If you have psoriasis and get psoriatic arthritis you will experience joint pain, stiffness and swelling. Like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis can affect any part of the body, including your fingertips and spine, and can range from very mild to extremely severe. In both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, the disease alternates between flare-ups and remission. For both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis there is no cure. However, there is treatment that can help mitigate and control symptoms and protect against long-term joint damage. If you don’t treat psoriatic arthritis, it can be disabling.

Ankylosing Spondylitis: Ankylosing Spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes musculoskeletal conditions that primarily impacts the bones, muscles, and ligaments of the spine, causing stiffness and fusion of the joints. Ankylosing spondylitis has also been known to cause inflammation in tendons, eyes, and major joints.

Metabolic Arthritis or Gout: Metabolic arthritis, or gout, is caused by a buildup of uric acid. In a healthy body, uric acid enters the bloodstream, travels to the kidneys and comes out in urine. If there is too much uric acid produced, or kidney are not functioning properly, uric acid can build up and then create uric acid crystals in joints. These crystals can cause sudden sores, intense pain, or gout attacks. Gout usually starts in the big toe, but it can also attack other joints in the arms and legs such as feet, ankles, knees, elbows, wrists, and fingers and attack more than one joint at a time. If uric acid is regularly building up and nothing is done to control or reduce it, gout can become a chronic disease.

Gout can have a variety of causes:

• Genetics. If anyone in your family has gout, you may have the genes that predispose you to have issues eliminating uric acid putting you at a higher risk for gout. 
• Weight. Obese or overweight people produce more uric acid than those who are not. As a result, obese or overweight people have a greater likelihood of developing gout. 
• Other diseases. There are a number of diseases that can cause kidneys to be unable to keep up with the rate of elimination of uric acid. These include high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease and high levels of cholesterol and fats in the blood.
• Medication. Certain medications can affect the kidneys and their ability to get rid of uric acid. These medications include high doses or long-term use of antibiotics, diuretics, long term, high doses of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs – such as aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen), or long-term use of medications for heartburn, acid reflux and ulcers.

Joints affected by gout can become red and hot. The skin may also look shiny and peel.

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common type of arthritis in kids and teens. You may have heard the term juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, but the name was changed because JIA is not just a child version of an adult disease. JIA types are autoimmune or autoinflammatory diseases. They cause joint pain and inflammation in the hands, knees, ankles, elbows and/or wrists. They can also affect other body parts but it less common. As JIA is autoimmune or autoinflammatory, the immune system actually attacks joints and tissues. The result is that inflammatory chemicals attack the tissue lining around a joint. This tissue normally produces fluid to cushion joints and help them move smoothly. If the tissue is inflamed it can make a joint feel painful or tender, difficult to move or even look red or swollen.

Doctors don’t actually know why kids develop JIA. In fact, the word “idiopathic” means unknown. Doctors and researchers believe kids with JIA may have certain genes that are activated by a virus, bacteria or other external factors.

Reactive Arthritis: Reactive arthritis is not a typical form of arthritis. Reactive arthritis, just like infectious arthritis, is painful joints and swelling resulting from an infection in another part of the body. Unlike infectious arthritis, reactive arthritis infections come from infections in the intestines, genitals or urinary tract. Reactive arthritis is a disease mostly affecting sexually active males between the ages of 20 and 40. Anyone with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is at particularly high risk.

Doctors have difficulty diagnosing reactive arthritis since symptoms can occur several weeks apart and the underlying infectious cause can clear up before the symptoms of the reactive arthritis begin. Fortunately, most people recover quickly, but up to 50% continue to have symptoms over several years. In addition, there can be complications including inflammation of the eyes, skin and the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the body).

Obesity and excess body weight: Obesity raises the risk of developing certain types of arthritis; in all cases, obesity makes arthritis worse. More than 1 in 5 Americans have been diagnosed with arthritis, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that number jumps to more than 1 in 3 among obese people — and more than 42% of Americans are obese. When someone is very overweight it places stress on the weight bearing joints (knees and hips). This brings a greater risk of developing arthritis or creating more issues with existing arthritis. In addition, fat tissue creates and releases chemicals, many of which promote inflammation. Fat and Arthritis | Arthritis Foundation

Infection: There are a number of different types of arthritis that can be caused by infection such as infectious arthritis and reactive arthritis.

Joint injuries: Post-traumatic arthritis is more common in younger people — including kids and teens. More than 5 million people are affected by post-traumatic arthritis each year.

Repetitive motion: Repetitive joint use, like with a job or sport that requires repetitive motion, can wear on joints and ligaments and eventually cause arthritis.

Age: Arthritis is more common among adults aged 65 years or older, but people of all ages (including children) can be affected. Nearly two-thirds of people with arthritis are younger than 65.

Gender: Arthritis is more common among women (26%) than men (19%) in every age group.