Arthritis For Dummies. Barry Fox

Polymyalgia rheumatica

       PsA: Psoriatic arthritis

       RA: Rheumatoid arthritis

       SLE: Systemic lupus erythematosus

      And don’t worry: We explain in this book what these words mean!

Icons Used in This Book

      The icons tell you what you must know, what you should know, and what you may find interesting but can live without.

      

When you see this icon, it means the information is essential, and you should be aware of it.

      

This icon marks important information that can save you time and energy.

      

The Technical Stuff icon marks a more in-depth medical passage or gives you further information about confusing medical terms.

      

The Warning icon cautions you against potential problems.

Beyond the Book

      In addition to the abundance of information and guidance related to arthritis that we provide in this book, you can find even more help and information online at Dummies.com. Check out this book’s online Cheat Sheet. Just go to www.dummies.com and search for “Arthritis For Dummies Cheat Sheet.”

Where to Go from Here

      Someone once said, “Knowledge is power.” You have the power to take charge of your arthritis; all you have to do is educate yourself and apply what you discover. This book is a good place to start, but you’ll have to commit and recommit yourself to maintaining your health on a daily basis. Remember, it’s the little things that you do every day that count. As you embark on your journey, we wish you luck, strength, and many active, pain-free years!

Part 1

      Making Sense of the Types of Arthritis

IN THIS PART …

      Arthritis can really put a damper on your life … if you let it. But the good news is that most forms of arthritis and the pain they cause can be managed (if not completely done away with) through medical techniques and lifestyle changes.

      Part 1 gives you an overview of arthritis in its many forms: the symptoms, diseases, processes, causes, and most likely victims. You also learn what doctors can do for each type of arthritis and what you can do for yourself. We give special attention to the most common forms of this disease: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Chapter 1

      What Is Arthritis?

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Discovering how arthritis affects your body

      

Becoming aware of the various types of arthritis

      

Recognizing the signs and symptoms of arthritis

      

Identifying the major causes of arthritis

      

Finding out who is most likely to get the various forms of the disease

      

Considering the treatment options

      Ouch! There it goes again! That grinding pain in your hip, those aching knees that make walking from the kitchen to the bedroom a chore, the stiff and swollen fingers that won’t allow you to twist the lid off a sticky jar or even sew on a button. Arthritis seems to get to everybody sooner or later — slowing us down, forcing us to give up some of our favorite activities, and just generally being a pain in the neck (sometimes literally!). In more advanced cases, arthritis can seriously compromise quality of life as sufferers surrender their independence, mobility, and sense of usefulness while being relentlessly worn down by pain.

The good news is that you can manage your arthritis with a combination of medical care, simple lifestyle changes, and good old common sense. You don’t have to spend your life gritting your teeth from pain, or hobbling around the backyard with a cane. Although you may not be able to run a marathon or do back-flips like you did when you were 13, if you follow the program outlined here, you should be able to do the things you really want to do — such as take a brisk walk in the park, carry a sleeping child upstairs to bed, or swing a golf club with the best of them. Arthritis may affect a lot of people, but thanks to intensive research over the past several years, we now know a lot more about how to handle it.

      Remember that arthritis affects the rich and famous just as much as the rest of us. For a look at how certain celebrities have handled their arthritis, see the sidebar “Stargazing: Famous Arthritis Sufferers” at the end of the chapter.

Understanding How Arthritis Affects Your Joints

      So what exactly is arthritis, this disease that brings us so much misery and pain? Unfortunately, we can’t provide one easy answer to that question, because arthritis involves a group of diseases — each with its own cause, set of symptoms, and treatments. However, these diseases do have the following in common:

       They affect some part of the joint.

       They cause pain and (possibly) loss of movement.

       They often bring about some kind of inflammation.

      As for the causes of these different kinds of arthritis, they run the gamut from inheriting an unlucky gene to physical trauma to getting bitten by the wrong mosquito.

      

The word arthritis, which literally means joint inflammation, comes from the Greek words arthros (joint) and itis (inflammation), and its major symptom is joint pain. Although the same group of ailments can be called rheumatism, it’s usually referred to as arthritis, so that’s what we call it in this book. The word arthralgia, a term used much less frequently, refers to joint pain alone. According to the CDC, arthritis affects some 58.5 million American adults (one out of every four people) and 300,000 children. That’s a big chunk of the population. For a look at how many people are affected by some of the most common forms of arthritis, see “Arthritis by the Numbers” later in the chapter.

      Saying hello to your joints

Before