Live long enough and you can pretty much count on developing arthritis: a touch of osteoarthritis, at the very least.

Arthritis ('arth' meaning joint, 'itis' meaning inflammation) isn't a one-note story or even a few variations on a single theme; it actually consists of more than 100 different conditions. These can be anything from relatively mild forms of tendinitis (as in 'tennis elbow') and bursitis to crippling systemic forms, such as rheumatoid arthritis. There are pain syndromes like fibromyalgia and arthritis-related disorders, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, that involve every part of the body. There are forms of the disease, such as gout, that almost nobody connects with arthritis, and there are other conditions - like osteoarthritis, the misnamed 'wear and tear' arthritis - that a good many people think is the only form of the disease.

True, many older people do have arthritis, but it's not just a disease of the old. Some forms of arthritis affect children still in diapers, while thousands of people are stricken in the prime of their lives. The common denominator for all these conditions is joint and musculoskeletal pain, which is why they are grouped together as 'arthritis.' Often that pain is a result of inflammation of the joint lining.

Inflammation is involved in many forms of arthritis. It is the body's natural response to injury. The warning signs that inflammation presents are redness, swelling, heat and pain. These are the same kinds of reaction the body has to a sliver in the hand, for example. When a joint becomes inflamed, it may get any or all of these symptoms. This can prevent the normal use of the joint and therefore it can cause the loss of function of that joint.
www.arthritis.ca

Again, people, instead of guessing based on extremely limited knowledge, please research the topic you wish to engage in if you do not have the condition or are not a medical professsional for some folk will take your advice and harm themselves.

Types of Arthritis:

Rheumatoid
Gout
Lupus
Reactive arthritis
Ankylosing spondylitis
Pseudogout
Fibromyalgia
Polymyalgia rheumatica
Psoriatic arthritis
Osteoarthritis

Some types of arthrits can be stopped in its tracks by eating a high alkaline balanced diet. Six years ago I was crippled by rheumtoid arthritis. I could not use the computer nor walk. It was very nasty. Now I walk for miles, do Tai Chi, use computer and garden again easily. As soon as I let the high body acids start creeping in, however, the inflammation, pain and stiffness begin again.