Common Misconceptions About Arthritis

Growing older is something that happens everyday and in many regards, is what makes us human. In a healthy senior, this aging process may very well slow down some of the body’s responses, but the underlying health and intelligence remains untouched. However, in some seniors, there is an increased risk for developing certain types of disorders and medical conditions.

Of all of the diseases that can affect the elderly, arthritis is one of the most common and well known. Arthritis is often thought of as an elderly disease, but there are a few misconceptions about arthritis that make this assessment only partially true.

Arthritis is only a Single Disease

Perhaps the biggest misconception about arthritis is that it is just a single disease. Often the term ‘arthritis’ is thrown about and used as a term to describe someones condition or symptoms, but there are actually more than 100 types of arthritis.

The symptoms of these different diseases will many times overlap, with joint deterioration being a common symptom of many types of arthritis. This is not always the case though, and there are a number of less common types of arthritis that have symptoms that can differ greatly. For example, psoriatic arthritis shares a number of similarities with the skin disease psoriasis.

Arthritis can Only Affect the Elderly

One of the other biggest misconceptions about arthritis is that it can only affect the elderly. In truth, arthritis can affect people of all ages, including children. However, the two most common types of arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, are much more common among seniors over the age of sixty-five. This is the reason that arthritis is typically considered an elderly disease, but of the more than 100 kinds of arthritis, there are several that are found in children.

Curing Arthritis and Reversing its Affects

Another fact about arthritis that many do not know is that there is currently no known cure for arthritis or way to reverse its effects on the body. There are no magnet bracelets, titanium bracelets, or other magical cure around that will repair the damage to the joints caused by arthritis. Instead, arthritis treatment involves finding ways to keep the disease from spreading and to make living with the effects of arthritis much easier.

This does not mean, however, that there is no need or way to treat arthritis. While it is true that there is no way to reverse the effects of arthritis, with proper treatment, arthritis can be largely controlled and even prevented. One of the most effective treatments is regular exercise, which has been shown to not only help prevent arthritis from occurring in the first place, but also help those who have arthritis retain their mobility.

Arthritis can be a very serious disorder, which greatly affects the lives of those with the disease. It can make many of the normal daily tasks much harder and more painful to preform, as the arthritis spreads throughout the infected joints.