Arthritis means pain and this could be anywhere in the muscles or the bones which the disease affects; the joints especially bear the brunt and are very painful. Each bone is covered with a living tissue that covers the ends of the bones and guards them from rubbing against each other; this tissue is known as the Cartilage. Like the other organs in our body, cartilage too needs looking after. Normally, all of the chondrocytes will die out and be replaced by the new cartilage cells.

The body can handle only a certain amount of cartilage cell replacement when there is inflammation the cartilage cells need much faster replacement which sometimes cannot be handled by the body. The body fails to generate new cells when there is lack of proper nutrients or if there has been an injury. The joints become deformed that causes hindrance in the day to day tasks. The traditional treatment to arthritis demands change of one’s lifestyle besides physical therapy and medication. If all non or less intrusive interventions give no relief then the last resort is joint replacement surgery.

Arthritis can be grouped into two main categories based upon the ‘localized’ or ‘generalized’ areas of the body or joints that are affected and then into sub-categories. Localized conditions are where the soft tissue around the bone or joint is affected; it refers to conditions like tendonitis and bursitis.

A sub-category of localized arthritis affects one or some of the joints like hip or knee joints. In a general sense, the disease affects the soft tissue and muscle where there isn’t any evidence of inflammation or swelling. In this condition there is no joint damage and fibromyalgia belongs to this category.

Another sub-category involves inflammation affecting the entire body. Other generalized conditions are polymyositis (muscles); systemic lupus erythematosus (skin, kidneys, or other organs); and vasculitis (any organ). Some of the other generalized conditions are known to include: muscles or polymyositis, vasculitis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

However a person may suffer from multiple kinds of arthritis, in the United States of America around forty six million adults and abut three hundred thousand children suffer from hundred medical conditions. Arthritis may affect people in infancy and its effects are more prominent in adulthood and are most common in the form of osteoarthritis. As the population within America ages, the number of individuals that are suffering from arthritis is constantly increasing.

Medical care and indirect expenses costs over 124 billion dollars in the US where arthritis and related problems are the main cause of disability. Maintaining the right weight, eating fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C and D are simple but effective measures to prevent and arrest osteoporosis, Regular exercise and consumption of up to 1000 to 1500 mg of calcium per day for adults would help them avoid injuries caused by sports activities.