Overview: Arthritis is a term used to describe the inflammation of joints. Osteoarthritis is a term for long-term or chronic inflammation and slow deterioration of the surrounding joint cartilage within the joint, which is progressive and permanent. This is also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD). There are two divisions of osteoarthritis, primary and secondary. Primary is very rare and characterized as a genetic malformation of the joints with no known cause. (idiopat