Nearly forty million Americans are affected with rheumatoid or osteoarthritis which are two of the most common arthritis types. Arthritis is characterized by pain, swelling, stiffness, deformity and lack of mobility. Let us throw some light on the two most common types of arthritis rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. We will look in detail as to the reasons and the preventive measures to be taken by patients who are affected. · Osteoarthritis is damage of the articular cartilage, which is caused due to rubbing of joints against one another. It mostly occurs in the knee, arm, shoulder and spine. Any previous injury, stress or natural defect in the protein of the cartilage causes osteoarthritis. · Rheumatoid involves the entire body and the symptoms patients experience are swelling, fever, anemia, weight loss, fatigue, severe pain and stiffness. The bones fuse together resulting in loss of mobility and stiffness. The causes for this could be mal