Learning About Senior Arthritis

When you hear about arthritis, many people believe that this is only a disease that affects the elderly. However, this is not the case. Arthritis can be found in people of all ages, even young children. With that said, the belief that arthritis is an elderly disease is not completely unfounded, as it is much more common among those over sixty-five and it will affect many seniors as they grow older.

Another common misconception is that arthritis is a single disease, but this is not correct, there are over a hundred types of arthritis, many of which affect the body quite differently.

Typically among the elderly, Osteoarthritis is the most common type of senior arthritis, with rheumatoid arthritis being a close second.

Both Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis share a number of similarities, as do many other types of arthritis. Common symptoms of arthritis include joint pain and inflammation, as well as difficulty getting around. Often joint pain is most difficult in the mornings or evenings, but aggressive activity can aggravate these symptoms, as can a lack of activity, such as sitting for a long time each day.

Stiffness of the affected joints is also common and sometimes bone growths will also occur, which is one of the reasons limited mobility. An early sign of senior arthritis is Crepitus, which is where the joints make a crackling or popping sound quite easily with simple movements.

However, keep in mind that there is not a link directly between arthritis and popping your joints. The old wives tale that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis is actually incorrect.

While there are a number of similarities between these two types of arthritis, as is often the case with the various kinds of arthritis, they actually attack the body in different manners.

For instance, Rheumatoid Arthritis is a symmetric arthritis in regards to how it attacks joints. This means that if you have rheumatoid arthritis in one wrist, it will almost always be found in the other wrist too. Rheumatoid Arthritis is also classified as an autoimmune disorder, which means that the body's own defense mechanisms turn on itself. It is not uncommon for Rheumatoid Arthritis to affect other organs in the body, not just joints, and symptoms like Fever, reduced appetite, and fatigue, as well as dry eyes, are also common with this kind of arthritis.

Osteoarthritis, on the other hand, attacks joints asymmetrically for the most part, with the knee being the most common joint affected by this disease. So, for example, in someone who has osteoarthritis, it is not uncommon for only a single knee or wrist to become afflicted, while then other is arthritis free.

In addition to these differences, rheumatoid arthritis is also much more difficult to diagnose. Often, osteoarthritis is visible in x-rays or other common tests, while it is not uncommon for signs of rheumatoid arthritis not to be visible in an x-ray. As a result, blood work and other tests, including speaking with the patient, are often required when diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis.

No matter what the type of arthritis, it is important to keep in mind that the effects can not be reversed. Through exercises, proper diet, and medications, like NSAIDS, it is often possible to keep the disease at bay and from getting worse, however it is not currently possible to rebuild damaged joints.