Someone very close to me suffers from Osteoarthritis.
What is arthritis.
Simply put, arthritis is inflammation (redness, swelling, pain or heat) within one or more of the joints.
I was thinking about the condition and wanted to express myself from a "laymans" point of view.
I won't attempt to get into the professional, medical or academic details of this condition.
The more research that I did the more I found medical terms that are presented without consideration of regular folks.
So my submission here is not meant to be an academic presentation in the least.
What I have been able to gather from research is that there are about 100 different kinds of arthritis that could be grouped into 5 major categories.
They are (1) Osteoarthritis, (2) Rheumatoid arthritis, (3) Lupus, (4) Gout (5) a general category of "other".
Whats is the best treatment for arthritis? What is the worst form of the disease? Can arthritis be prevented and if so how? Does exercise help? Is there a recommended diet that would help? Good questions all.
I am not qualified to answer these questions.
What I can do is share my personal experience in dealing with health issues.
I think I am like most people in that I don't give much attention to the definitions, causes, or remedies for serious health problems or issues until they effect me personally.
I think this is normal.
So what do you do when you or someone you love dearly is confronted with a serious health situation.
You do as much research as you possibly can.
If you are not up to deciphering all of the medical terms, get someone to help.
Doctors have come a long way in seeing the need to not talk "over the heads" of their patients, but when reading medical literature there seems to be the need on the part of the writer to sound as educated as possible and therefore use as much professional terminology as possible.
As professional and precise as these terms may be they are obscure to regular folk like me.
It's almost like code that does indeed need to be deciphered.
Get someone knowledgeable and able to, in effect, "translate" what's on the "printed" page.
No need for me to make a long list of websites as to where information can be found.
The Internet is the biggest and most efficient library known to humans up to this point and things are indexed (listed in some logical order).
Let me list just 2 sites where you can start.
You can use a search engine to locate the websites of theses organizations.
Wikipedia WebMD As you use your search-engine you'll find thousands of sites with good information and perhaps thousands with information that's not very useful.
The key is to be able to filter the information, use it as a guide in making your decisions and not be sidetracked by sales pitches, outlandish claims, or miracle cures.
Osteoarthritis is painful and serious enough to require some in-depth research before making a final decision on what's the best and most beneficial medical care for you.