Arthritis affects everyone. Even though it is mostly the elderly who are experiencing joint pain and stiffness, it presents a problem for all ages. These including children, teens, adults, and seniors.
People most commonly experienced it as joint inflammation, although this particular term is also related to hundreds of conditions. Today we’ll talk about the effects of arthritis on people of different ages, types of this condition, prevention measures, and treatments, so without any further ado, let’s get straight to it.
What is Arthritis?
Injuries, infections, or dysfunctions within the immune system cause Arthririts. Symptoms also include joint inflammations or pain.
There are approximately 200 types of conditions that fall into this category. These are split into several main groups, which include inflammatory, mechanical, CTD (connective-tissue disease), metabolic and infectious arthritis, as well as back pain.
Inflammatory Arthritis
Inflammatory Arthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It is a condition that relates to sporadic inflammation of the joints. This disease that does not necessarily need to be a byproduct of physical injuries or other diseases.
Typically, athletes and seniors suffer from this condition. However, due to its rather unpredictable nature, people of all ages may experience it. One of its unique (and unfortunate) characteristics is that it can also spread to the surrounding ligaments or tendons.
Mechanical Arthritis
Often referred to as ‘degenerative arthritis’, this particular variation is a byproduct of damaged cartilage in most cases. A cartilage is composed of chondrocytes and is normally smooth. This produces collagen and non-collagenous protein. A healthy cartilage allows your joints to move smoothly, a damaged one loses this ability.
So our bodies react by remodeling our bones so as to somewhat restore them. Eventhough this is a completely natural process, but there are several inhibiting factors. These factors can lead to the development of unwanted bony growths, which are called osteophytes.
Mechanical arthritis is among the most common conditions related to this ailment. It can happen to anyone regardless of age. However its symptoms are much more pronounced in seniors, whose bones are healing at a considerably slower pace.
CTD
Diseases related to connective tissues encompass a wide variety of diseases related to the body parts that connect our bodies. The main types of proteins that comprise the structure of connective tissues are collagen (Type I) and elastin. When the symptoms of CTDs start to occur, the proteins become inflamed and typically suffer long-term damages.
Several CTDs are Arthritis-based diseases with Rheumatoid arthritis being the most common one. Aside from that, typical CT diseases are Polymyositis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, Wegener’s disease, and Scleroderma.
Most CTD-type Arthritis conditions are hereditary. Although its common causes include direct exposure to various toxic chemicals, UV light exposure, malnutrition, and infections. The main age group of people who suffer from CTD arthritis is seniors. However smokers and students who live off of poor diets can contract it as well.
Infectious Arthritis
One of the leading causes of arthritis is inflammation of joints. The causes of the inflammation can be various, including infections caused by bacteria and certain viruses. Salmonella, a bacterium normally spread via food contamination, can infect and inflame the joints, just like chlamydia.
Hepatitis C is also commonly cause inflammation to the body, which can easily affect and inflame the joints. Younger people, especially young adults are more prone to experience infectious arthritis.
Back Pain
Back pain is a generic term that can be traced to arthritis, past injuries, and various ailments. Some people may experience back pain while the source stems from a different problem. Even though joints may be inflamed, the pain receptors may channel it to the person’s back in certain cases.
Arthritis and children
The most common type of arthritis that children can experience is JIA (juvenile-idiopathic arthritis). Although this condition can fall into remission, it’s currently incurable. JIA is prone to causing permanent joint damage. It usually targets children with weaker immune systems (or who are suffering from auto-immune diseases).
Arthritis and young adults
Young adults can experience any of the aforementioned types of arthritis, as can those from every other age group. However young adults are more inclined to contract Septic Arthritis than most.
Septic arthritis is a broad term that includes all sub-categories of infections and arthritis conditions. Many young adults become sexually active at a certain point, which increases the risk of contracting STDs. Many ST diseases cause inflammation, which can target joints or any other part of the body.
Septic arthritis can also be a direct result of a poor diet. Eating contaminated food is almost sure to cause it.
It’s uncommon for children and teens to contract septic arthritis. This is often because they are typically living with their parents who, in most cases, take care of their diet. Treatment usually involves antibiotic therapy, and in some cases, the drainage of synovial fluid from affected joints.
Adults and Arthritis
Upon reaching middle age, arthritis becomes a big issue for adults. Your body’s regenerative properties start losing their potency. This leaves joints defenceless against potential inflammation caused by past injuries.
Mechanical arthritis is the most common type of this condition among middle-aged adults. You can treat Mechanical arthritis in the earliest stages. You can do this through physical therapy combined with regular exercise. Surgery is often regarded as the last resort for the later stages.
Seniors and Osteoarthritis
Elderly people are the target age group of osteoarthritis. As opposed to damaged cartilage in the case of mechanical arthritis, the cartilage of seniors became weaker over time.
Many elderly people need to use self-help tools, such as can openers for arthritis, to tackle what used to be a daily routine.
Osteoarthritis is irreversible and incurable, although the pain caused by this condition can be reduced with certain medications. Some of the most effective types of medication include Acetaminophen, Duloxetine, and a wide variety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory prescriptions.
Physical therapy can be effective for seniors that can endure it. TENS (transcutaneous-electrical nerve stimulation) therapy can offer short-term relief when the pain becomes unbearable.
We hope that this guide was useful to you and that you’ve learned something new about arthritis and its types.
