Fifty million people in America suffer from arthritis, and despite plenty of research there is still no cure. But there are ways to alleviate the pain.
Let’s start with a definition – what is arthritis?
"Arthritis is really inflammation of the joints and there are over 120 different forms of arthritis. The most prevalent being osteo-arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile arthritis," says Jennifer Hee of the Arthritis Foundation.
That’s right – even children can have arthritis.
"Children can be diagnosed as young as the age of six months. There are about 1,200 children here in Hawaii with arthritis and 260,000 adults here in Hawaii with arthritis," Hee says.
As we said, there is no cure for arthritis – but there are a variety of medications and treatments which can ease the pain.
"We say at the Arthritis Foundation that moving is the best form of medicine and a lot of times people can’t move because can’t move because it’s so painful, but we actually encourage them to just keep moving," Hee says.
What exactly causes arthritis?
"Age can be a factor, injury can be a factor, so there’s actually a lot of different causes. Some might be hereditary," Hee says. "It’s really important that you see a specialist in arthritis so we encourage people to see a rheumatologist which is a specialist in joints."
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
