Rheumatism - People suffering from rheumatic diseases

ARTHRITIS

Arthritis is the inflammation of one or more joints.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Joint inflammation, which causes redness, swelling, pain and sometimes loss of motion, is a body’s normal reaction to damage or the presence of a foreign agent in that area. This is seen frequently when there is an injury to a joint (including fracture) or the presence of a virus or bacteria. Most of the time inflammation goes away after the injury has healed or the virus or bacteria have been wiped out by the immune system.

With some injuries and some disease the inflammation does not go away and this is considered arthritis. Altogether there are more than 100 kinds of arthritis, and there are many different diseases that can cause it.

Arthritis can occur in males and females of all ages. Some of the disease associated with arthritis includes:

- osteoarthritis

• systemic lupus erythematosus

• rheumatoid arthritis

• juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

• gout

• sclerodema

• psoriasis (psoriatic arthritis)

• ankylosing spondylitis

• Reiter’s syndrome

• septic arthritis

• tuberculosis (tuberculous arthritis)

• gonorrhoea (gonococci arthritis)

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily affects the joints and surrounding tissues.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, but infectious, genetic, and endocrine factors may play a role. The disease can occur at any age, but the peak incidence of disease onset is between the ages of 25 and 55. Women are affected three times more often than men. The incidence increases with age. Approximately 3% population is affected. The course and severity of the illness can vary considerably.

The onset of the disease is usually slow, with fatigue, loss of appetite, weakness, and vague muscular symptoms. Eventually, joint pain appears, with warmth, swelling, tenderness, and stiffness after inactivity of the joint.

The disease usually only involves a couple of joints initially, but slowly progresses into many other joints. At first, rheumatoid arthritis affects the synovium, which becomes inflamed and secretes more fluid. Later, the cartilage becomes involved and becomes rough and pitted.

The hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees and ankles are the most frequently affected. Characteristic deformities result from cartilage destruction and destruction of the supporting tissues around the bones. Occasionally, the hips, jaw and neck may be affected.

Anaemia may occur due to failure of the bone marrow to produce enough new red cells to make up the lost ones. Muscle weakness and atrophy may occur. If the heart becomes weakened, congestive heart failure may result.

Prevention

Rheumatoid arthritis has no known prevention; however, it is often possible to prevent further damage of the joints with proper treatment early in this disease.

Symptoms

• fatigue

• general discomfort, or ill feeling

• loss of appetite

• low-grade fever

• joint pain, joint stiffness and joint swelling

• limited range of motion

• morning stiffness

• deformities of hands and feet

• round, painless nodules under the skin.