Arthritis

Arthritis, inflammation of a joint, usually accompanied by pain and frequently by changes in structure. The two most widespread arthritic disorders, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, are usually chronic problems for which there is no cure, though modern medicine can now do a good deal to control them. Two or three times more women than men are affected by osteoarthritis, and women have the most serious form, rheumatoid arthritis, three times as often.

See also: Joint.