Arthritis Tutorial

By Editor, on March 24th, 2011

Arthritis is a common condition that affects one in six Americans. To learn basic facts about arthritis, click the link below to take a tutorial provided by the Patient Education Institute of the U.S. Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. For further information on the more common types of arthritis, follow the links further below.

Take The Tutorial:

The Tutorial provided by the U.S. Library of Medicine includes basic information about the most common types or arthritis: osteoarthritis (most common with aging), post-traumatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis (associated with inflammation, redness and swelling of the joints). Learn what these conditions are, how they develop and what aggravates them (including obesity), their symptoms and diagnosis, and some treatments commonly used to manage them.

Take the Tutorial » Arthritis: MedlinePlus Interactive Health Tutorial.

Or, review a PDF Document containing the basic information » Arthritis – General Reference Summary

Learn More About Common Types of Arthritis:

Learn more about Osteoarthritis – the most common type of arthritis, which is associated with aging. It causes pain, swelling and reduced motion in joints. Factors that may cause osteoarthritis include:

Being overweight
Getting older
Injuring a joint

Therapies used to manage osteoarthritis pain and improve function include exercise, weight control, rest, pain relief, alternative therapies and surgery.

Learn more about Rheumatoid Arthritis — a form of arthritis associated with inflammation and redness that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in joints, and can also affect other parts of the body. It is an autoimmune disease, in which your immune system attacks your body’s own tissues.

Causes are not known definitively, but contributing factors may include heredity, environment and hormones. Treatments to slow or stop joint damage and reduce pain and swelling include medications, lifestyle changes and, in some cases, surgery.

See also our resource pages on Arthritis, Osteoporosis & Rheumatic Conditions.