Arthritis Causes

Understanding The Causes Of Arthritis

The causes of arthritis are best understood in terms of the recommended natural arthritis treatment. This is because an appreciation of any arthritis natural remedy will give the medical student different options in approaching the causes of arthritis, going way beyond the traditional such as instability of the joints, a genetic predisposition, or altered biochemistry.

Depending on the type of arthritis - which can causes pain, a reduction or even a loss of movement, the causes of arthritis will vary. For example most prevalent form of arthritis, Osteoarthritis which is a degenerative joint disease, is caused by cartilage covering the ends of bones. Rheumatoid arthritis, a serious and disabling variation, is caused when the joint lining become inflamed. Unlike Rheumatoid arthritis which affects mainly women, gout is another form of the disease affecting mainly males. It is caused by deficiencies in body chemistry. In this case an understanding of the causes of arthritis leads to a natural arthritis treatment, namely changes in diet.

Arthritis natural remedy also makes sense when we look at the demographics of the disease. Over the last 20 years, the number of Americans suffering from chronic joint symptoms has increased from approximately 35 million to 46 million in 2006. That's almost 1 in 5 adults! It's the nation's leading cause of disability, limiting everyday activities such as moving freely while walking, washing, of even dressing.

Determining the causes of arthritis with any kind of accuracy is always difficult. This is due to the fact that several factors contribute to someone developing this disease. Perhaps a more considered approach would be to look at the risk factors that contribute to causing arthritis before highlighting the natural arthritis treatment. Genetics is a major contributing risk factor. Exactly how or genes contribute to causing the disease is not well established. However, there are certainly genetic variations that can be cause of arthritis. In this situation the concept of an arthritis natural remedy has little meaning.

Age is another often-quoted cause. Put simply, cartilage becomes brittle with the passing of time, resulting in a diminished ability for self-repair. Age is something unavoidable, but we can certainly manage our weight. Now because joint injury is partly dependent on the mass the joint needs to support, massive body weight will certainly cause arthritis. This is particularly true of hips and knees in over-weight people. Weight reduction is probably the most effective natural arthritis treatment!