With more than four million Australians and New Zealanders living with some form of arthritis, this painful condition is receiving increasing attention. While there’s no cure for arthritis, symptoms can be managed through clinical treatment, physical activity, joint protection, stress management, and heat-and-cold therapy. Diet, too, can play an important role.
Who is at risk?
Risk factors for developing arthritis include ones you can’t control, such as genetics, sex and age — and some you may be able to, such as smoking, repetitive injuries, body weight, occupation and certain infections.
Q WHAT IS ARTHRITIS?
The word arthritis means ‘joint inflammation’, but that doesn’t fully capture what arthritis is. While all arthritis affects joints, not all types are the result of inflammation.
COMMON SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
➜ pain
➜ stiffness or reduced joint movement
➜ swelling, redness and warmth in the joints.
3 most common types of arthritis
Although the three most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis, gout and rheumatoid arthritis, there are rarer forms including reactive arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile arthritis, lupus, scleroderma and fibromyalgia. Here‘s what you
