Everything You Need to Know about Spinal Arthritis
Greetings .. Gloria is away this week, and will resume posting on February 4, 2008. In the meantime, please enjoy this article about Spinal Arthritis. // HART
The variations of different diseases create one of the biggest challenges for physicians, researchers, and patients. For instance, we often hear through the mass media that scientists are searching for the “cure for cancer.” However, cancer exists in several forms, including lung cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer. Each of these forms of the disease includes different symptoms and treatments, and would thus require different cures. Likewise, various types of arthritis exist, such as psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Another variety of this devastating disease is spinal arthritis.
Spinal arthritis, or spinal stenosis, involves the tapering of the backbone, manifesting itself through stress on the spinal cord as well as on the roots of nerves. This disease usually involves three regions of the spine: the canals at the nerves’ base that expand from the spinal cord; the gaps between the spine’s bones, through which nerves exit the spine and then continue to other body parts; and the tube in the middle pillar of bones, through which the roots’ base and the spinal cord continue. This tapering can include either a huge or tiny region of the spine. The sufferer of spinal arthritis may feel aches or a lack of sensation in the shoulders, neck, or legs.
I would like the patients to understand their condition better in order to help them discern what is best for their life with arthritis in conjunction to what their doctors are telling them! .. 
