The word "arthritis" comes from Greek words that literally translate as "joint inflammation." The name applies to more than 100 related diseases known as rheumatic diseases. A joint is any point where two bones meet. When a joint becomes inflamed, swelling, redness, pain, and loss of motion occur. Arthritis can be physically disabling. Normally, inflammation is the body…
Osteoporosis derives from Latin words that mean "porous bones." According to the National Osteoporosis FIGURE 5.1 Projected population of persons age 65 and older, 1990–2050 Foundation (NOF) in 2004, the bone-thinning and -weakening disease has afflicted more than ten million people, and more than thirty-four million more are estimated to have low bone mass, placing the…
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, degenerative, and often intermittent disease of the central nervous system. It eventually destroys the myelin protein sheaths that surround and insulate nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin is a fatty substance that aids the flow of electrical impulses from the brain through the spinal cord. These nerve impulses control all conscious and unconscio…
Parkinsonism refers not to a particular disease but to a condition marked by a characteristic set of symptoms believed to affect about 1.5 million people in the United States, according to the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) Web site [http://www.apdaparkinson.org/user/AboutParkinson.asp] in 2004. Both men and women are affected. The disease occurs much more commonly in people older t…
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in severely impaired memory, thinking, and behavior. It affects an estimated 4.5 million American adults and is the most common form of dementia (loss of intellectual function, including gradual memory loss, decline in the ability to perform routine tasks, disorientation, difficulty in learning, l…
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments Add a comment…