1. What is arthritis?

Arthritis affects the movements you rely on for everyday activities and is usually chronic affecting a sufferer on and off for a lifetime.

There are over 100 kinds of arthritis that can affect many different areas of the body. People of all ages, including children and young adults, can develop arthritis.

Normally, inflammation is the way the body responds to an injury or to the presence of disease agents, such as viruses or bacteria. During this reaction, many cells of the body's immune system rush to the injured area to wipe out the cause of the problem, clean up damaged cells and repair tissues that have been hurt.

In many forms of arthritis, the inflammation does not go away as it should. Instead, it becomes part of the problem, damaging healthy tissues of the body. This may result in more inflammation and more damage - a continuing cycle.

This damage can change the bones and other tissues of the joints, sometimes affecting their shape and making movement hard and painful.

The commonest forms of arthritis are Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Gout.

Today the progress and severity of most forms of arthritis can be modified and the pain controlled to a greater or lesser degree. Generally, however, arthritis requires sufferers and their families to adapt some aspects of their lives to cope with their condition.

The exact cause of arthritis has yet to be discovered, and there is no cure. Research is being undertaken in many countries, including South Africa, into causes and possible cures for this disease. New treatments are also being researched and developed, making arthritis less of a burden than in the past. One in seven South Africans has some form of arthritis.