Arthritis is a disease of joints. The exact reason of why arthritis strikes certain people and some people do not suffer from it is not known. The researchers have not found out the cure for the disease. All one can do is getting correct diagnosis done and manage the type of arthritis one is affected with.

To determine the type of arthritis the doctor has to refer to different criteria decided by the researchers. In many cases the initial symptoms overlap so it becomes difficult to classify the types of arthritis the patient is having.

The general symptoms at which the doctor looks are stiff joints, pain in the joints, swelling, and redness around the joint, limited mobility of the joint and disfigured joint. The joint that is affected by arthritis also can point to the type of arthritis one is affected by. For example in osteoarthritis weight bearing joints of a person are affected such as hips, spine, knees and feet.

The joints swell and ach due to rheumatoid arthritis. The small joints look spindle shaped. It is the most crippling kind of arthritis. The patient may have fever at the onset of the disease.
It is very important to look for the symptoms and the joints that are affected by arthritis to identify the correct arthritis.

The doctor takes help of the medical history into account. Old age seems to be the major cause of osteoarthritis in older people. For younger people sometimes previous joint injury seems to be the cause of osteoarthritis.

Some of the blood tests can also give the doctor a clue to the type of arthritis the patient is affected with. If the white blood cell count is high in the blood it suggests that some kind of infection is present in the body. If antinuclear antibodies are found then it suggests the possibility of having autoimmune disease.

The doctor may ask you to go in for X-rays of the affected joints. It gives you the clear picture of cartilage and any bone growth that is taking place in the joint. MRI helps to images of your body in cross sections. Any small change can be detected in the body by doing MRI scan.

Before giving his opinion the doctor has to take into account medical history, physical examination, blood test and x-rays and MRI scan reports. These are the criteria to determine the type of arthritis the patient is affected with.