What is Arthritis?

• Osteoarthritis, also known as “degenerative joint disease,” is the nation’s number one crippling disease, affecting an estimated 20.7 million Americans. Osteoarthritis most often affects the hip, knee, foot, and hand, but can affect other joints as well. Degeneration of joint cartilage and changes in underlying bone and supporting tissues lead to pain, stiffness, movement problems, and activity limitations.

• Rheumatoid Arthritis afflicts approximately 2.1 million Americans and is characterized by chronic inflammation of the joint lining. Symptoms include pain, stiffness, and swelling of multiple joints. The inflammation may extend to other joint tissues and cause bone and cartilage erosion, joint deformities, movement problems, and activity limitations. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can also affect connective tissue and blood vessels throughout the body, triggering inflammation in a variety of organs, including the lungs and heart. In severe cases, RA can lead to death from respiratory and infectious diseases.

• Fibromyalgia literally means “pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons.” Fibromyalgia pain syndrome involves muscle and muscle attachment areas. Common symptoms include widespread pain throughout the muscles of the body, sleep disorders, fatigue, headaches, and irritable bowel syndrome. This disease affects about 2 percent of Americans.

• Juvenile Arthritis affects about 285,000 children in the United States. About 10 percent of these children have systemic onset type which begins with very high fevers, skin rash, and inflammation in many internal organ systems as well as the joints. Pauciarticular onset disease affects fewer than five joints and affects about half of all children with arthritis. Some who develop this type from infancy to age 5 risk developing inflammatory eye problems. Older children may develop one of the adult forms of arthritis. Polyarticular disease affects more than five joints and can begin at any age. Some of these children have adult type rheumatoid arthritis that begins at an earlier age than usual.

Half of the elderly population is affected by arthritis and risk increases with age.

Women are at higher risk of many forms of arthritis than men:

• Osteoarthritis affects 21 million Americans, including 16 million women.
• Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and fibromyalgia are conditions that occur much more often in women than in men, although men have a higher risk of osteoarthritis after age 55 than women.
• Researchers believe that female hormones may play some role in arthritis because women are affected so much more frequently than men. Hormones also appear to affect arthritis symptoms in certain cases. For instance, women frequently experience remission of RA symptoms during pregnancy, and lupus sometimes flares during pregnancy.

Scientists have uncovered clear evidence that genetic factors are associated with an increased risk of developing many types of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, juvenile arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and ankylosing spondylitis. More research is needed to learn more about the specific genes associated with arthritis.

• Lupus occurs three to four times more often in African Americans than in Caucasians.
• One genetic marker for rheumatoid arthritis is found in 25 percent of Caucasians but in only 10 percent of African Americans. This may suggest that there is actually more than one disease with similar features.
• Native American groups are at higher risk for other conditions: A study found that Choctaws in Oklahoma had an incidence of scleroderma that was 20 times higher than that of the general population.
• Eskimos and Native Americans have been found to carry the genetic marker for ankylosing spondylitis twice as often as Caucasians, and their incidence of the disease is higher as well.

People who are more than 10 pounds overweight have a higher risk of osteoarthritis, especially in weightbearing joints like the knees.

A past severe injury which damages cartilage and creates conditions favorable to its breakdown, adds to osteoarthritis risk.

Certain gastrointestinal or genitourinary infections can lead to arthritis. Such arthritis can persist for months or even years after the initial infection is cured. Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by certain ticks, can also result in arthritis."

Jobs requiring heavy physical labor, particularly those with repetitive stooping, crawling, or carrying heavy loads can increase the risk of osteoarthritis.