If you have arthritis, handwriting wouldn’t be the only thing you’d find difficult. You might also have a hard time turning doorknobs, climbing stairs, winding your watch, brushing your hair, tying your shoelaces, driving a car, removing a pan from the oven, holding a telephone or just getting out of bed in the morning.
Virtually everything you do in life can require special effort when you have arthritis. Of course, if you have arthritis, you already know how it changes your life. And chances are, if you don’t have arthritis yourself, someone close to you does.
Approximately 350 million people all over the world are affected by arthritis. There are approximately 40 million people with arthritis in the United States alone. That means one in seven Americans has arthritis, and one in every three families is affected. Over a quarter million children are affected by arthritis! More than half of those with arthritis are under 65 years of age. Nearly 60 percent of the arthritis patients in America are women. More than 27 million Americans have osteoarthritis. Approximately 1.3 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.
Not only that, but 6 million Americans who have arthritis are not seeing a doctor for the condition, according to a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Many people see television ads for painkillers and attempt to treat the condition themselves.
The problem is this :
Arthritis can worsen if the only treatment a person is receiving is pain relief.
That’s why, if you have arthritis, it’s important to know what kind of arthritis it is and to be under a doctor’s care.
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