Arthritis

Arthritis literally means "inflammation of a joint". Since there are any number of factors that can cause inflammation of a joint, there are many types of arthritis. Some examples of arthritis include osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout. Each of these may affect the patient differently and may have significantly different complications. It is, therefore, very important to know the exact type or form or arthritis that you may be treating. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory disease that chiefly affects the synovial membranes of multiple joints in the body. Because the disease is systemic, there are many extra-articular features of the disease as well. For example, neuropathy, scleritis, lymphadenopathy, pericarditis, splenomegaly, arteritis, and rheumatoid nodules are frequent components of the disease. In addition, the potential for involvement of the renal, pulmonary, and cardiovascular systems exist.