There are over 100 different types of diseases that affect the joints and are loosely termed arthritis. Some signs of arthritis include pain, aching, stiffness, and swelling.
Typically arthritis is characterized by inflammation and loss of function of one or more joints of the body. Some of these are known as autoimmune diseases because they occur when the immune system, which normally protects the body from infection and disease, attacks the body’s own tissues.
Common types of arthritis
Some of the common types of arthritis include:
Osteoarthritis
This is the most common type of arthritis. It primarily affects cartilage, which is the tissue that cushions the ends of bones within the joint. Once affected the cartilage begins to erode away and may entirely wear off. This leads to joint pain and stiffness.
Rheumatoid arthritis
This is an inflammatory disease of the lining of the joint. There is pain, stiffness, swelling and eventually joint damage, and loss of function of the joints. It may affect hands and feet of both sides of the body.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
This is the most common form of arthritis in childhood. It leads to pain, stiffness, swelling, and loss of function of the joints. In addition, there may be rashes or fevers, and may affect various parts of the body.
Fibromyalgia
This is a pain syndrome that affects the body widely. Pain, stiffness, and localized tender points are found on various muscles and tendons, particularly those of the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips. In addition, there are tiredness and sleep difficulties.
Systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE
This is an autoimmune disease. There is inflammation of and damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and brain
Spondyloarthropathies
These affect the spine commonly. One of the common forms is ankylosing spondylitis that affects the spine, neck and sometimes the hips, shoulders, and knees.
Other types of arthritis
Other types of arthritis include (1) :
- Achilles tendinitis
- Achondroplasia
- Acromegalic arthropathy
- Adhesive capsulitis
- Adult onset Still's disease
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Anserine bursitis
- Avascular necrosis
- Behcet's syndrome
- Bicipital tendinitis
- Blount's disease
- Brucellar spondylitis
- Bursitis
- Calcaneal bursitis
- Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) Crystal deposition disease
- Caplan's syndrome
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Chondrocalcinosis
- Chondromalacia patellae
- Chronic synovitis
- Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis
- Churg-Strauss syndrome
- Cogan's syndrome
- Corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis
- Costosternal syndrome
- CREST syndrome
- Cryoglobulinemia
- Degenerative joint disease
- Dermatomyositis
- Diabetic finger sclerosis
- Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH)
- Discitis
- Discoid lupus erythematosus
- Drug-induced lupus
- Duchenne's muscular dystrophy
- Dupuytren's contracture
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Enteropathic arthritis
- Epicondylitis
- Erosive inflammatory osteoarthritis
- Exercise-induced compartment syndrome
- Fabry's disease
- Familial Mediterranean fever
- Farber's lipogranulomatosis
- Felty's syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Fifth's disease
- Flat feet
- Foreign body synovitis
- Freiberg's disease
- Fungal arthritis
- Gaucher's disease
- Giant cell arteritis
- Gonococcal arthritis
- Goodpasture's syndrome
- Gout
- Granulomatous arteritis
- Hemarthrosis
- Hemochromatosis
- Henoch-Schonlein purpura
- Hepatitis B surface antigen disease
- Hip dysplasia
- Hurler syndrome
- Hypermobility syndrome
- Hypersensitivity vasculitis
- Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy
- Immune complex disease
- Impingement syndrome
- Jaccoud's arthropathy
- Juvenile ankylosing spondylitis
- Juvenile dermatomyositis
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
- Kawasaki disease
- Kienbock's disease
- Legg-Calve-Perthes disease
- Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
- Linear scleroderma
- Lipoid dermatoarthritis
- Lofgren's syndrome
- Lyme disease
- Malignant synovioma
- Marfan's syndrome
- Medial plica syndrome
- Metastatic carcinomatous arthritis
- Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)
- Mixed cryoglobulinemia
- Mucopolysaccharidosis
- Multicentric reticulohistiocytosis
- Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia
- Mycoplasmal arthritis
- Myofascial pain syndrome
- Neonatal lupus
- Neuropathic arthropathy
- Nodular panniculitis
- Ochronosis
- Olecranon bursitis
- Osgood-Schlatter's disease
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteochondromatosis
- Osteogenesis imperfect
- Osteomalacia
- Osteomyelitis
- Osteonecrosis
- Osteoporosis
- Overlap syndrome
- Pachydermoperiostosis Paget's disease of bone
- Palindromic rheumatism
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome
- Pellegrini-Stieda syndrome
- Pigmented villonodular synovitis
- Piriformis syndrome
- Plantar fasciitis
- Polyarteritis nodosa
- Polymyalgia rheumatic
- Polymyositis
- Popliteal cysts
- Posterior tibial tendinitis
- Pott's disease
- Prepatellar bursitis
- Prosthetic joint infection
- Pseudoxanthoma elasticum
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Raynaud's phenomenon
- Reactive arthritis/Reiter's syndrome
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome
- Relapsing polychondritis
- Retrocalcaneal bursitis
- Rheumatic fever
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Rheumatoid vasculitis
- Rotator cuff tendinitis
- Sacroiliitis
- Salmonella osteomyelitis
- Sarcoidosis
- Saturnine gout
- Scheuermann's osteochondritis
- Scleroderma
- Septic arthritis
- Seronegative arthritis
- Shigella arthritis
- Shoulder-hand syndrome
- Sickle cell arthropathy
- Sjogren's syndrome
- Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
- Spinal stenosis
- Spondylolysis
- Staphylococcus arthritis
- Stickler syndrome
- Subacute cutaneous lupus
- Sweet's syndrome
- Sydenham's chorea
- Syphilitic arthritis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
- Takayasu's arteritis
- Tarsal tunnel syndrome
- Tennis elbow
- Tietse's syndrome
- Transient osteoporosis
- Traumatic arthritis
- Trochanteric bursitis
- Tuberculosis arthritis
- Arthritis of Ulcerative colitis
- Undifferentiated connective tissue syndrome (UCTS)
- Urticarial vasculitis
- Viral arthritis
- Wegener's granulomatosis
- Whipple's disease
- Wilson's disease
- Yersinial arthritis
