Arthritis Australia and run community seminars. Arthritis is an umbrella term for more than 100 medical conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system, specifically joints where two or more bones meet. The three most significant – osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and gout – account for more than 95 per cent of cases in Australia. The most common forms of arthritis are: Arthritis-related problems include pain, stiffness, inflammation and damage to joint cartilage (the tissue that covers the ends of bones, enabling them to move against each another) and surrounding structures. This can result in joint weakness, instability and deformities that can interfere with the
Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and allergy, as well as many cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and infectious diseases. Some current research even suggests that aging is a consequence, in part, of inflammatory processes. IMID is characterized by immune disregulation, and one underlying manifestation of this immune disregulation is the inappropriate activation of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-12, IL-6 or TNF alpha, whose actions lead to pathological consequences. Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases An immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) is any of a group of conditions or diseases that lack a definitive etiology, but which are characterized by common inflammatory pathways leading to inflammation, and which