25 Things To Know About Arthritis

This painful joint disease is actually a collection of many ailments. The first line of defence: Educate yourself

- Sari Harrar & Lucy Wildman

Arthritis. If the word makes you think about older folks with creaky knees and jumbo bottles of ibuprofen, you need an update. This painful joint disease is widespread and comes in many forms.

By far the most common type, currently affecting 40 million people across Europe, is osteoarthritis. The UK-based Rheumatology journal reports a lifetime risk of 45 per cent for knee and 25 per cent for hip osteoarthritis. It’s the fastest growing cause of disability worldwide.

Other types of arthritis, including gout, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, add to the misery. Gout affects from about one percent to two and a half per cent of the population, depending on the country, psoriatic arthritis less than half of one per cent and rheumatoid arthritis about one per cent.

All told, rheumatic conditions and other musculoskeletal diseases (including such diseases as fibromyalgia, tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome) will strike one in four Europeans—more than 120 million people—at some point in their lives, reports the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR).

There’s no cure for any form of arthritis, but science has made several breakthroughs in understanding how to treat the inflammation and pain that come with it, as well as how to halt the underlying joint damage.

OSTEOARTHRITIS

(OA): Wear and tear of the cartilage cushion between joints that can often cause—and in some cases result from—chronic inflammation.

1 Old-fashioned X-rays are the best diagnostic tool. A Washington University study noted that X-rays can diagnose OA as accurately as MRI scans—and they do it faster and more cheaply. Identifying arthritis early gives you time to turn to lifestyle changes (more on those below) before irreversible damage is done to your knees (the most common pain point) or other joints.