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FAQ
| Inflammation & the Joint
Live
long enough and you can pretty much count
on developing arthritis: a touch of osteoarthritis,
at the very least. |
Inflammation
& the Joint
Inflammation
is involved in many forms of arthritis. It is the
body's natural response to injury. The warning signs
that inflammation presents are redness, swelling,
heat and pain. These are the same kinds of reaction
the body has to a sliver in the hand, for example.
When a joint becomes inflamed, it may get any or
all of these symptoms. This can prevent the normal
use of the joint and therefore it can cause the
loss of function of that joint.
There are more than 100 joints connecting the
body's 206 bones. Most of the major bone connections
in the body are joints designed to allow a broad
range of motion. There are different kinds for
different functions: ball-and-socket (hips and
shoulders), saddle joints (which connect thumb
to hand) hinge joints (fingers and knees) or pivot
joints (wrists). Tied together by ligaments, the
bones of joints are capped with a smooth substance
called cartilage. This tough elastic material
acts as a shock absorber and allows the bone ends
to glide smoothly across each other. If the cartilage
is destroyed (as in osteoarthritis), the bones
of a joint can grind against each other causing
pain, loss of mobility, deformity and dysfunction.
Between the bones is a joint cavity, which gives
the bones room to move. The joint space between
two bones is enclosed by a capsule that's flexible,
yet strong enough to protect the joint against
dislocation. The inner lining of this capsule,
the synovium, produces a thick fluid that lubricates
and nourishes the joint. In many forms of arthritis,
the synovium becomes inflamed and thickened, producing
extra fluid which contains inflammatory cells.
The inflamed synovium and fluid can damage the
cartilage and underlying bone. 
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