Various Treatment Aspects of Arthritis (Allopathic & Ayurvedic)

Arthritis encompasses a spectrum of inflammatory arthropathies affecting individual joints (monoarthritis), a few joints (oligoarthritis) or many joints (polyarthritis). Arthritis damages the cartilage within joints resulting in degenerative changes including loss of function and joint instability. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting the spine and bone to tendon attachment area within the sacroiliac joint leading to back pain and progressive spinal stiffness. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease characterized by the simultaneous inflammation of the synovium of multiple joints, leading to joint damage (e.g. destruction, deformation and disability). Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent form of arthritis which may lead to disability. Ayurvedic medicine uses complex treatment approaches including manual therapies, lifestyle & nutritional advice, dietary supplements and medication. Yoga is effective in many musculoskeletal conditions like chronic low-back pain, cervical spondylosis, osteoarthritis and RA. Due to the difficulty in monitoring the disease progression to detect the advanced manifestations of the diseases, drug-induced cytotoxicity and problems with drug delivery; nanoparticle therapy has gained the attention of the researchers. This review describes the various approaches to treat arthritis along with the proposal of new ideas and future directions in arthritis therapy.