What is Arthritis & what happens in it?

Arthritis is a form of joint disorder and one of the oldest known disease. Nearly 53 million adults in the US have it. Almost 300,000 of them are children’s – That’s almost 1 in every 250 children’s. But do we really know what is arthritis? Arthritis involves inflammation of one or more joints ( where the bones meet). Arthritis is a very common sign of the aging process and might affect one or multiple joints at the same time, causing severe pain. Arthritis is more common in women than men and in those who are overweight and adults over the age of 65.

What is arthritis & What happens in it?

Arthritis is an autoimmune disease, it starts by attacks our body’s immune system (healthy tissues). The immune cells invade the joints and induced chemicals to causes destruction of bone and cartilage tissue of joints. Cartilage tissues protect joints and allow us to move, but when damaged it can no longer rub the bones together and properly absorb the shock of pressure due to physical activity like walking or running.

How to control Arthritis?

Now that we know what is arthritis, let’s take a look at some of the healthy lifestyle practices to control this disease, and avoid joint pain that comes with it:

• Weight management
• Controlled diet
• Regular exercise
• And reducing repetitive motions
• Be Active
• Take regular medications

The Arthritis Foundation recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate walking every day to reduce Arthritis pain. Walking also helps you to lose weight, which reduces stress on your joints.  

Maintaining a healthy diet to manage arthritis is also very important. One should:

• Drink plenty of water!
• Increase calcium intake to slow down bone damage.
• Non-dairy foods are also a great source of calcium.
• Increase vitamin intake
• Avoid foods with high amount of sugar
• Limit alcohol consumption & quit smoking
• You should also avoid salt and preservatives, because these may increase inflammation.

Without family support, managing arthritis can be very challenging. But with CircleCare App anyone can get support from their friends and family! Now you can – get inspiration to eat healthy, take medications on time and most importantly keep track of how your diets and physical activities are actually affecting your vitals.