Many of our medical and scientific terms have Latin or Greek origins. The word arthritis is a combination of the Greek arthron, meaning joint, and it is, referring to inflammation. If you consider that inflammare is the Latin verb meaning “to set on fire” the word is an apt description of the location and sensation of the discomfort experienced by so many.

We’ll have a lot more to say about goes on during the process of inflammation later because the search for new and better ways to deal with Arthritis Rheumatoid depends on an increased understanding and control of a complicated set of events. For now, let’s emphasize the fact that normal inflammation is a natural and absolutely essential part of the body’s immune or defense system. In other words, all of us periodically experience some inflammation as a result of, for example, a minor infection or perhaps a sprain.

Our first line of defense against foreign invaders including viruses, bacteria, and fungi is the skin and the moist mucous membranes that line our respiratory, reproductive, and digestive tracts. Unpleasant as it may seen, we are constantly bombarded by hordes of these invisible microscopic creatures. Some of them manage to make their way through physical barrier of the skin or mucous membranes and enter deeper tissues. Think of what happens after the common experience of getting a splinter in your finger.

A splinter almost carriers bacteria on it, and unless the splinter is removed quickly, the pieced area becomes red, swollen, painful, and even within a few hours. That is normal inflammation at work. We are very fortune that this temporary discomfort is triggered, because otherwise the bacteria could multiply uncontrollably and result in a fatal infection.

Most frequently arthritis takes the form of osteoarthritis, from the Latin os, meaning “bones”. Osteoarthritis is often referred to as degenerative joint disease (DJD). The smooth, moist, rubbery cartilage, which protects the ends of the bones at the joints, wears down and becomes thinner and rougher. If a substantial amount of cartilage wears away, the unprotected bones in the joint rub together, causing severe pain and reducing joint movement.

This “war and tear” of osteoarthritis, brought on by a variety of factors, including lack of exercise, obesity, overuse, joint injury, and aging, needs to be carefully distinguished from Arthritis Rheumatoid during diagnosis . Although one can have both Osteoarthritis and Arthritis Rheumatoid simultaneously. Arthritis Rheumatoid affects more than 21 million Americans.

Some general confusion over terminology is not unusual because there is more than one hundred disease considered to be rheumatic disease, only one of which is Arthritis Rheumatoid. The rheumatic diseases are those that affect connective tissue, particularly within the joints and related structures such as bone. The many different forms of arthritis are just a part of the rheumatic disease spectrum. Other rheumatic disease include fibromyalgia, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus (also known as SLE and lupus), ankylosing spondylitis, and polymyalgia rheumatica.

Natural Pain Relief from Arthritis could reduce your dependency on prescription drugs and begin regaining control on your life and your pain relief using only natural means.

Keywords: Arthritis Rheumatoid, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, back pain, joints

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.