Arthritis ? Try eating fish
The joints in the human body are areas where two or more bones move against one another, to provide the body with it's flexibility and movement. Just as in steel machines, those hard elements moving against each other require some special arrangements so as to minimise or prevent the long term friction damage which can arise in such situations. The joints in the human body are equipped with special tissues which can deal with such friction in a normally painless way. Things can and do go wrong with these arrangements, and when it does, pain and immobility can result. Such a condition is referred to popularly and medically as "arthritis". Arthritis: the disease
Arthritis is the most common disease in the world, and about 20 million people in Britain are affected by it. Most people will be affected at some stage in their lives to some degree by arthritis. Something like 65 million working days are lost because of arthritis every year in the UK. People in the North of Britain tend to suffer from arthritis more than those in the South, and women tend to get it more than men, but we don't as yet know why. What causes of arthritis we don't yet know, but we do know from ancient skeletons that it has been around for a very long time. Quite a lot is known about certain aspects of arthritis, but the factors which decide who will be afflicted and who will not are largely unknown. Mankind has been searching for ways and means to ease the pain and discomfort arthritis brings for many years. Much money has gone on research to study the disease, and we now know that there are over 200 kinds of arthritis, though most sufferers have one of the two commonest types, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the commonest form, affecting about 1 in 7 of us (in Britain), usually in our later years. It is a condition caused by the failure of the "lubricating system" in joints. When this happens, friction causes wear and tear on the bones in a joint, particularly the weight-bearing joints like hips and knees. Usually, only one or two joints are affected and the condition rarely spreads to other joints in the body. Since the pain can often be helped by painkilling drugs of the aspirin/paracetamol type the degree of disability can be small. Replacement of the joint or joints is commonly carried out, especially in older patients, and is normally quite successful. Once a patient is diagnosed with osteoarthritis, he or she will have it for the rest of his or her lifetime, and drug therapy must be viewed with this in mind, especially in those people who may be sensitive to aspirin, or those prone to digestive upsets, which can be made worse by certain types of painkillers. Rheumatoid Arthritis is the second most common form, and tends to be more of a "come and go" condition, in which several joints can be affected. It is usually accompanied by more marked inflammation, the joint typically being hot, swollen, painful and tender. The actual cause of the condition is the inflammation of the membranes surrounding the ends of the bones, the synovial membrane. Why this happens is not known. Although it usually affects adults, it does sometimes strike young children, when it is known as Still's Disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is more amenable to treatment than osteo-arthritis, mainly by drug and or diet therapies, though neither approach is instantaneous. Ankylosing Spondylitisis a painful, inflammatory condition which can last for many years, although not always in a severe form. The spine is the area usually affected, and in severe cases some of the bones which make up the spine can fuse together, making the spine very stiff. Gouty Arthritis is a form of arthritis affecting mainly the toe, knee and wrist joints. The inflammation is caused by the formation within the joint of crystals of a substance called sodium urate. There are a large number of other types of arthritis, which fortunately affect relatively few people. Lupus (SLE), Reiter's Disease, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, fibrositis, psoriatic arthritis, bursitis and even tennis elbow all fall within this group. Some form of inflammatory change within the joint is the common factor.
