Arthritis  is a condition that causes inflammation and pain in the joints. People with arthritis also have swelling around the joints and warmth and redness of the skin over the joints. The condition causes stiffness and restricts movement of the joint. 

It’s a chronic condition that affects a huge proportion of the population, especially older people. However, recently doctors have diagnosed even young individuals with a condition called as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In adults arthritis manifests itself in two major forms. 

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition caused by wear and tear of the cartilage in the joint. Cartilage is elastic tissue that’s between the bones and enables smooth movement. Loss of cartilage causes painful rubbing of one bone over the other during any movement of the joint. 

Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto immune disorder, which means the body’s immune system attacks the cartilage, mistaking it to be foreign to the body and destroying it. The development of this disorder is not very clear, and some attribute genetics as one of the causative factors.