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• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

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• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

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• Older Adults
• Patient Handouts

Summary

If you feel pain and stiffness in your body or have trouble moving around, you might have arthritis. Most kinds of arthritis cause pain and swelling in your joints. Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Over time, a swollen joint can become severely damaged. Some kinds of arthritis can also cause problems in your organs, such as your eyes or skin.

Types of arthritis include:

• Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It's often related to aging or to an injury.
• Autoimmune arthritis happens when your body's immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of this kind of arthritis.
• Juvenile arthritis is a type of arthritis that happens in children.
• Infectious arthritis is an infection that has spread from another part of the body to the joint.
• Psoriatic arthritis affects people with psoriasis.
• Gout is a painful type of arthritis that happens when too much uric acid builds up in the body. It often starts in the big toe.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Start Here

• Arthritis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
• Arthritis: Frequently Asked Questions (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bone X-Ray (Radiography) (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Direct Arthrography (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• MRI of the Musculoskeletal System (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Synovial Fluid Analysis (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Arthritis Pain: Treatments Absorbed through Your Skin (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Joint Injections (Joint Aspirations) (American College of Rheumatology) Also in Spanish
• Pain Relievers: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Painful Joints? Early Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis Is Key (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish

Living With

• Arthritis (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
• Arthritis Pain: Do's and Don'ts (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Employees with Arthritis (Office of Disability Employment Policy)
• Sex and Arthritis (American College of Rheumatology) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Adult Still's Disease (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Arthritis of the Hand (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Arthritis of the Shoulder (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Arthritis of the Thumb (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Arthritis of the Wrist (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Inflammatory Arthritis of the Hip (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• MCP Joint Arthritis (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Overview of Enteropathic Arthritis / Arthritis Associated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Spondylitis Association of America)
• Thumb Arthritis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Genetics

• Blau syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics and Rheumatic Disease (American College of Rheumatology) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Arthritis by the Numbers: Book of Trusted Facts and Figures (Arthritis Foundation) - PDF
• Arthritis in America (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Arthritis: Data and Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• FastStats: Arthritis (National Center for Health Statistics)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Arthritis (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Trends and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Health Care Spending Stratified by Gender...
• Article: Prevention of Blindness in Stickler Syndrome.
• Article: Factors associated with Chinese herbal medicine use among middle-aged and older...
• Arthritis -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Arthritis Glossary (Boston University)

Find an Expert

• Arthritis Foundation: Local Office Directory (Arthritis Foundation)
• Find a Rheumatologist (American College of Rheumatology)
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Also in Spanish

Older Adults

• Feeling Out of Joint: The Aches of Arthritis (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Arthritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Osteotomy of the knee (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish