Assistive technology is a tool used to aid a persons disability by reducing their physical barriers by improving the use of their damaged body part, typically after an amputation. Assistive technology devices can be customized to the patient or bought commercially. Medications
There are several types of medications that are used for the treatment of arthritis. Treatment typically begins with medications that have the fewest side effects with further medications being added if insufficiently effective.Depending on the type of arthritis, the medications that are given may be different. For example, the first-line treatment for osteoarthritis is acetaminophen (paracetamol) while for inflammatory arthritis it involves non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen. Opioids and NSAIDs may be less well tolerated. However, topical NSAIDs may have better safety profiles than oral NSAIDs. For more severe cases of osteoarthritis, intra-articular corticosteroid injections may also be considered.The drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) range from corticosteroids to monoclonal antibodies given intravenously. Due to the autoimmune nature of RA, treatments may include not only pain medications and anti-inflammatory drugs, but also another category of drugs called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Treatment with DMARDs is designed to slow down the progression of RA by initiating an adaptive immune response, in part by CD4+ T helper (Th) cells, specifically Th17 cells. Th17 cells are present in higher quantities at the site of bone destruction in joints and produce inflammatory cytokines associated with inflammation, such as interleukin-17 (IL-17). Surgery
A number of rheumasurgical interventions have been incorporated in the treatment of arthritis since the 1950s.
The results of the systematic review were as follows:
Rheumatoid arthritis: 0.1% in Algeria (urban setting); 0.6% in Democratic Republic of Congo (urban setting); 2.5% and 0.07% in urban and rural settings in South Africa respectively; 0.3% in Egypt (rural setting), 0.4% in Lesotho (rural setting)
Osteoarthritis: 55.1% in South Africa (urban setting); ranged from 29.5 to 82.7% in South Africans aged 65 years and older
Knee osteoarthritis has the highest prevalence from all types of osteoarthritis, with 33.1% in rural South Africa
Ankylosing spondylitis: 0.1% in South Africa (rural setting)
Psoriatic arthritis: 4.4% in South Africa (urban setting)
Gout: 0.7% in South Africa (urban setting)
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis: 0.3% in Egypt (urban setting)

History
Evidence of osteoarthritis and potentially inflammatory arthritis has been discovered in dinosaurs. The first known traces of human arthritis date back as far as 4500 BC. In early reports, arthritis was frequently referred to as the most common ailment of prehistoric peoples. It was noted in skeletal remains of Native Americans found in Tennessee and parts of what is now Olathe, Kansas. Evidence of arthritis has been found throughout history, from Ötzi, a mummy (c. 3000 BC) found along the border of modern Italy and Austria, to the Egyptian mummies circa 2590 BC.In 1715, William Musgrave published the second edition of his most important medical work, De arthritide symptomatica, which concerned arthritis and its effects. Augustin Jacob Landré-Beauvais, a 28-year-old resident physician at Saltpêtrière Asylum in France was the first person to describe the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.