What is Arthritis???

This week we will study various diseases of the skeletal system including arthritis. Everyone usually experiences some type of joint related pain in their life and complain about arthritis or rheumatism as they age. But did you realize that there are many types of arthritis? Some forms are related to use or injury and result just from aging while other forms result from a pathological condition such as an autoimmune disease or other disease. This disease is responsible for many physician visits as well as hospital stays related to falls or surgical interventions to provide a higher quality of life.

Please do some research to discover some of the types and what distinguishes one type from another. For example - there is Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis - what are the differences in the two conditions? They have differing etiologies as well as treatment interventions.