Joint Diseases

Improper function or discomfort in the joints of the bones is known as joint disease. The joints can be defined as the meeting point of two bones, they are the junction between the bones. In the human body, the ball and socket joint, hinge joint, pelvic joint are some of the important joints that help in the proper functioning of the body. 

These do not only constitute the bone, typically a joint has cartilage, tissue, synovial fluid, and nerve plexuses associated with it. One of the significant characteristics of joint diseases is their association with pain. The pain is due to inflammation of the surrounding tissue and sometimes, the bone. 

Joint diseases are broadly classified into two groups based on inflammation, they are inflammatory joint diseases and non-inflammatory joint diseases. The joint disease list can range from chronic inflammatory disease to acute inflammatory disease. It is important to note that joint disease can affect a single joint or can have an impact on the majority of the skeleton system based on the severeness and type of the disease. 

Anatomy of Joint

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To understand the disease and treatment of joint disease it is important to have a basic understanding of the joints. It constitutes of the following-

1. Cartilage- It is the tissue covering the surface of the bone joint. The primary function of cartilage is to reduce the friction of movement within a joint.

2. Synovial membrane[ it is a tissue that surrounds the joints, it forms a membrane-like structure around the joint and then seals it into a joint capsule. The membrane secrets a fluid called synovial fluid, whose primary role is to provide lubrication to the joints. 

3. Ligaments- it is the tough, elastic bands of connective tissue that surround the joint. It provides support and limits the joint's movement. The primary function of the ligaments is to connect bones.

4. Tendons- Tendons are also a type of tough connective tissue that connects muscles to bones.

5. Bursas- These are the fluid-filled sacs between bones, ligaments, or other nearby structures. They help in reducing friction.

6. Meniscus- It is a curved part of cartilage found in the knees and other joints.

Types of Joint Diseases

Joint disease lists mainly categorize the diseases into groups of inflammatory and noninflammatory types. Inflammatory joint diseases are the most common and prominent among the elderly age groups. 

Arthritis is the generic term used for joint disease of inflammatory nature. Moreover, it can be further classified into categories, osteoarthritis, and autoimmune joint disease. The list of joint pain disease name are as follows,

Osteoarthritis 

It is a common type of inflammatory knee disease. It is categorized under degenerative disease. This usually affects the cartilage of the joint, over a period of time the cartilage of the joint undergoes breakdown. This progressive breakdown causes the increase in stiffness of the joint, it also leads to the increased friction in the movement. This a progressive, chronic disorder, it usually affects the population above 50 years of age, it has been shown in recent studies the females are more vulnerable to the disease.

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Rheumatoid Arthritis

 It is an autoimmune disorder. It occurs when an immune cell of the body tends to attack its cell, in this case particularly the connective tissues of the joint. This leads to increased inflammation,  pain, and degeneration of the connective joint tissue. The synovial membrane is also subjected to persistent inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis is age-independent, that it can be found in any age group. It is also associated with there premature mortality of the individual. It is also associated with some cardiovascular disorders such as ischemic heart disease and stroke.

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Spondyloarthritis

It is commonly known as spondylitis, it usually covers a wide variety of diseases. It acts as an umbrella term. It is an autoimmune disorder. There are various types of spondyloarthritis which include, Ankylosing, axial, peripheral spondylitis and, non-radiographic spondylitis. These affect the different parts of the skeleton, the most commonly affected organ is the ankle joint and the spine in the human body. Apart from inflammation and pain, there are some inflammation-related symptoms which include the following, redness and itchiness of the eyes, light sensitivity, blurry visions, gastrointestinal symptoms and, pain in the tendons of the toe and fingers. The common test used for diagnosis is HLA- B27 blood test. It is important to note that it is more commonly found in males and is developed during teenage or in the 20s. Relative diagnosis of it in females is very difficult, thus it is a possibility that there are more female patients than the data suggests.

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Lupus

Lupus is also an autoimmune disorder. It is very complex in nature thus is commonly known as the disease of thousand faces. It is a disease of connective tissue. There are the following types of lupus as Systemic lupus erythematosus, Discoid lupus erythematosus and Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus. SLE is the most common type of lupus, it is a systemic disease which undergoes various cycles. It causes inflammation in the skin, joints, lungs, kidneys, blood, heart.  Another type of lupus that is very rare is neonatal lupus. It is the condition where the baby has an autoimmune disorder. In this case, the mother might or might not be suffering from SLE. It is a rare condition found in about 1% of the total population.

Bursitis

It is a condition where the bursae are inflamed. It is a fluid-filled sac between the bones or ligaments, they primarily work to reduce the friction due to movement. The most common site of this disease is the subdeltoid bursa, which lies above the shoulder joint.  It can also be caused by the overuse of the joint, another common reason is rheumatoid arthritis, persistent RA or gout may also lead to it. It is relatively less severe and is more common in the population. 

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Gout

This is the most common type of joint disease found in the body. It is the result of excessive deposition of uric acid in the joints. The uric acid forms crystals in the joint thus increasing the friction. It is a common waste product of the body. Gout is associated with pain and inflammation, it is considerably higher in males. Females are prone to gout after their menopause.

Infectious Arthritis

Apart from the wearing and tearing of the joints, microbial infections are also a major cause of joint disease. A pathogen may follow one of the three routes of entry which includes, entry via direct contamination, bloodstream, or through osteomyelitis. It refers to the entry of a pathogen to the joint via some prior infection of bone or infection at a distant joint from where the pathogen is carried via blood. This joint pain disease name is also known as septic arthritis. Streptococcus and Gonococcus are the two main pathogens responsible for causing it. Knee, shoulder, wrist, hip, and elbow ar4e the most common sites of infection. It, similar to other joint diseases, is also associated with inflammation, pain, fatigue, and sometimes skin rashes.