Arthritis Health Center

Tools & Resources

Features Related to Arthritis

Ask the Expert: I Have RA and My Husband Won't Help

In every issue of WebMD the Magazine, we ask our experts to answer readers' questions about a wide range of topics. In our May 2011 issue, a reader with rheumatoid arthritis asked WebMD's rheumatology expert, Scott Zashin, MD, why her husband doesn't help her more. A: It is not at all unusual for ma
Read Full Article
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Depression

If rheumatoid arthritis is making you depressed, Patricia Doyle’s experience may sound familiar. Doyle used to love to take long walks near her home in San Francisco and went dancing three nights a week. But four years ago, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 58. As the pain go
Read Full Article
RA and Your Diet

How much can what you eat help -- or hurt -- your rheumatoid arthritis (RA)? For decades, researchers have looked into whether there is a link between food and RA. For almost as long, various diets and supplements have claimed to relieve swollen joints and morning stiffness -- or even falsely "cure"
Read Full Article
Shopping and Preparing Easy Meals When You Have Arthritis

Putting healthy meals on the table means lifting grocery bags, opening jars with lids, dicing and slicing, and handling bulky pots. But all of those activities pose a challenge when you have arthritis. Fortunately, there are plenty of clever solutions you can use to make shopping and meal preparatio
Read Full Article
Easing Stress, Easing Arthritis Symptoms

Whether it’s a problem at work, relationship troubles, or just dealing with traffic, we all deal with stress in our lives. But ongoing stress can take a toll on your health. It can also make any health condition that you have feel worse, including arthritis. When your body is under stress, it releas
Read Full Article
Stress and RA: How to Stay in Control

Hilary Wilson of Duluth, Ga., now 60, was officially diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis or RA in 1987, but she is pretty sure she had the inflammatory arthritis long before that. RA is a chronic disease, marked by inflammation of the lining of the joints. It can lead to chronic joint pain, loss of
Read Full Article
Should You Have Knee or Hip Replacement Surgery?

Once considered high-tech, joint replacements are now a common operation. Surgeons replace more than a million hips and knees each year in the U.S. Studies show joint replacements can significantly relieve pain and increase mobility in about 90% of people who get them. "Joint replacement can be a li
Read Full Article
For Women: OA Risk Factors and Coping Tips

You used to climb stairs, lift toddlers, and work in the garden with ease. Now osteoarthritis makes these activities difficult and painful for you. You're not alone. Nearly 27 million Americans have osteoarthritis. And about 16 million of them are women. If you are a woman with osteoarthritis, don't
Read Full Article
How Stress and Fatigue Affect RA

Stress and rheumatoid arthritis often go hand in painful hand. Many people trace the onset of their rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to a stressful event in their lives. “I was going through a really stressful period in my life when I first developed RA, and I really believe that it aggravated it a lot,” s
Read Full Article
Arthritis Pain, Intimacy, and Sex

If you have arthritis, there are plenty of reasons why you might not feel like having sex. Painful or stiff joints and limited mobility may make sex seem more like a chore than a pleasure. You may feel self conscious about changes in your body. Or you may simply feel too fatigued at the end of the d
Read Full Article