Arthritis doesn't just affect those of us who have been diagnosed with it. Its very nature (especially the chronic, inflammatory forms) means that it will also have an impact on everyone who shares our lives, especially our partners. Like us, you will suffer emotional and physical demands. The only difference is that you won't suffer from the actual symptoms and the damage that the arthritis can cause to our bodies. But we want you to know that no matter how bad things get, your love and support are very important. And hopefully by increasing your understanding, we can make life a little easier for all of us.

In this section, we aim to provide you with imformation that will hopefully help you to understand at least some of what we are going through and ways in which you can help us. However, it is important to realise and remember that there are many different forms of arthritis and each person is affected differently. Each of us also have different responses to the various treatment options and what works for one won't work for others.

The focus of most of these articles will be on the many forms of inflammatory arthritis. These include many of the forms of Arthritis commonly found in young adults such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Juvenile Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis and other forms of spondylarthropathies, Lupus and Reactive Arthritis. While many of these forms of arthritis have common characteristics, it is important that you talk to the person if your life who has arthritis and find out from them exactly their arthritis affects them and how you can best help them. Feel free to use any of these article to assist you in these discussions.