COMMON MEDICINE

Painful cramps or spasms in the muscles of the leg often occur at night and are common among athletes and people with circulatory problems.
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Back pain is possibly the price human beings have to pay for being members of the only fully erect species on earth – and one of the most sedentary.

Back pain can come suddenly or course of time; it can be the immediate result of an attempt to lift a large object or the cumulative effect of endless hours camped in front of a television set. In most cases, the actual cause is weak muscle tone in the lower back and abdominal areas, muscles that are critical in the support of the arching spinal column. When they are not doing their job – or are straining to do it under pressure – back problems are all but inevitable. In fact, most people experience back pain at some time int their lives, and millions of dollars are spent every year in search of relief. Read the rest of this entry »

The terms arthritis and rheumatism are both commonly used to describe pain, swelling and stiffness of the joins, but there is a difference between the two. In its strictness sense, arthritis means, literally, inflammation (-itis) of the join (arthro-). Rheumatism, on the other hand, is more general term for pain and stiffness in the muscles, bones, joints and tendons. There are, in fact, many different types of arthritis, all of which are classified, together with connective tissue diseases that can affect not only the joints but the skin and internal organs as well as rheumatic disorders. Doctors who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis and other rheumatic disorders – of which there are more than hundred – are called rheumatologists.

The most common type is osteoarthritis, which occurs mainly in people over 40. The next most common, and potentially the most serious, form is rheumatoid arthritis, which affects women more often than men and may strike at any age. Read the rest of this entry »