There are more than 120 types of arthritis and they do not just affect the old. Mind Your Body looks at the three most common types in Singapore

When she was just 24, MsKatherine Lim was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Ms Lim, now 52, a manager in a garment manufacturing firm, said: 'I was shocked. I thought arthritis affected only old people.

'I wondered why it happened to me.'

World Arthritis Day will be marked on Monday. It has been observed since 1996 by Arthritis Rheumatism International to raise global awareness of the condition.

Among the enduring myths about arthritis is this one: it afflicts only the old.

Arthritis is the inflammation of the body's joints and there are more than 120 variations of the disease.

Dr Law Weng Giap, a consultant in the rheumatology, allergy and immunology department at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), said the various types of arthritis can be put into two main groups: inflammatory ones like RA and non-inflammatory ones like osteoarthritis.

In Singapore, one in 10 people between the ages of 18 and 69 suffers from arthritis.

Here are the three most common ones: osteoarthritis, RA and ankylosing spondylitis.

junec@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.