What is Arthritis?
- dedar_dev
- January 12, 2016
- Blog
- No responses
The word arthritis actually means joint inflammation. The term arthritis is used to describe more than 100 rheumatic diseases and conditions that affect joints, the tissues which surround the joint and other connective tissue. The pattern, severity and location of symptoms can vary depending on the specific form of the disease. Typically, rheumatic conditions are characterized by pain and stiffness in and around one or more joints. The symptoms can develop gradually or suddenly. Certain rheumatic conditions can also involve the immune system and various internal organs of the body. A brief overview of the most common forms of arthritis will be discussed in this section. Whenever possible, the format for each arthritis type overview will include the following sections: background, prevalence (the number of people affected now), incidence (the number of new people affected in a given time period), mortality, hospitalizations, ambulatory care data (office, hospital outpatient, and emergency department visits), cost (direct and indirect where available), impact on quality of life and unique characteristics (such as transient nature, post infectious, etc.). References and resources for further information are provided at the end of each overview.