Most Common Locations: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis, also known as RA, is an autoimmune condition type of arthritis that can affect five or more joints altogether. This means that the immune system mainly attacks certain parts of the body, especially in the joints.

If not properly treated, this can lead to inflammation, which will cause severe joint damage. Studies show that every 1 out of 5 people who have rheumatoid arthritis have experienced lumps on their skin. That is called rheumatoid nodules, which often joint over joint areas that tend to receive the most pressure, such as the elbows, heels, and knuckles.

During the early course of dealing with rheumatoid arthritis, the most common joints that are usually involved include:

• Your wrists
• The joints that connects your fingers to your hands
• The middle joints of your fingers
• The joints that attach your toes to your feet
• Your ankles

The larger joints are often affected later in the process of its course – which includes parts such as your shoulders, knees, and elbows. Rheumatoid arthritis usually tends to develop in the same joints on both sides of the body as symptoms and signs include pain, noticeable warmth, swelling of the affected joint area, and morning stiffness that may last over an hour.

When not treated during the early stages, rheumatoid arthritis can cause a hefty amount of damage that will become worse over periods of time. This disease has a strong potential to completely damage the joint’s tissues as well as the bones itself. Through continuous inflammation in between the spaces of the joint, this will gradually increase the damage of the fibrous connective tissue that is used to hold the skeleton together at the cartilage – ultimately narrowing down the space of the joints and eventually eroding the bones.

Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

As symptoms can slowly appear or start very suddenly, they are most often more severe than symptoms of osteoarthritis. As Rheumatoid arthritis often affects multiple joints, you may feel sudden pain and stiffness as well as swelling in your wrists, hands, elbows, knees, shoulders, ankles, neck, feet and jaw. There is usually a symmetrical pattern in symptoms.

For example: When the ankles on the left foot start to become inflamed, the ankles on the right will also become inflamed. After a short period of time, more of your joints will gradually get involved and become painful and swollen as well as feel warm to the touch.

Joint Swelling

This often persists and definitely interferes while you are driving, walking, working, and other daily activities. The stiffness often starts in the morning when you wake up and may even continue to last for hours, and even throughout the day. Your body may also start to feel fatigue and a sudden loss of appetite.

When multiple joints become affected, synovitis can lead to a cause of tissue tethering along with the loss of movement and joint erosion – with ultimately leads to loss of function and deformation.

Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis

This chronic autoimmune disorder is not well understand as well as no proper evidence of what the physical and emotional effects really are to cause a trigger for the disease. Various negative findings suggest the many causes of what could trigger it, yet most of the risk is believed to be considered genetic.

Risk Factors of RA

Studies show that although the actual cause of RA is still undetermined, many cases result from an interaction between environmental exposures and genetic factors. Smoking is considered as one of the most significant non-genetic risks as patients who smoke are about three times more common with positive RA than those who don’t smoke.

A deficiency in Vitamin D is also found to be more common in people dealing with rheumatoid arthritis when compared to the general population. Although a vitamin D deficiency remains unclear whether to be considered as a cause or a consequence of the disease.

Treatment and Management for Rheumatoid Arthritis

While there is no given cure for RA, management and treatments can also improve the given symptoms and help to slow down the progress of the disease.
The main goal of the treatments are used to minimize pain and swelling while also preventing such bone deformity and being able to maintain a steady daily lifestyle. Treatment is often carried by two forms of medications including NSAIDS and Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS).

Lifestyle Habits

In order to maintain a properly overall physical function, regular daily exercise is highly recommended to protect muscle strength. As beneficial as physical activity may be, those who are struggling with Rheumatoid arthritis might find daily exercise to cause certain amounts of fatigue. Therefore, occupational therapy has proven to be a positive role in improving functional ability. In regards to diet, it is still uncertain as to what foods are proper and which are harmful.

Surgery

During the early course of RA, doctors recommend an open synovectomy or an arthroscopic to be performed as it includes the removing of the inflamed synovia to prevent any quick damage of the joints being affected. Those who suffer from most highly affected joints may require replacement surgery, as most often a knee replacement.

Alternative Medicine
 
Although there is not enough thorough evidence to thoroughly support such health approach for Rheumatoid Arthritis, there are some mindful as well as physical practices along with dietary supplements that many have found to help with RA symptoms.

Helpful Dietary Supplements for RA

Herbal

There is no support in health claims of herbal medicines; therefore the American College of Rheumatology does not recommend their use.

Omega-3

Evidence shows that omega-3 fatty acids appears to claim modest benefits in RA, though there is not enough evidence to conclude that omega-3 supplementation is a powerful and effective treatment.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is said to affect around 1% of Adults in developed countries. Recently, research showed that in 2010, there was a resulted 49,000 deaths from RA globally. Rheumatoid Arthritis most commonly started much earlier for women in the 40-50s years of age and a somewhat later for men.

References:

https://www.jointhealthmagazine.com/jointrelief

http://community.healthywomen.org/profiles/blogs/know-these-joint-pain-triggers-that-make-rheumatoid-arthritis

Arthritis of Hands - Getting to the Facts of the Causes and Treatments of Arthritis of Hands

With arthritis, hand movements can become stiff and painful at times. Arthritis  is a name that covers many diseases. The criteria that these diseases share are that they bring pain and inflammation to joints throughout the body. Hands are a common place for arthritis to set in. Osteoarthritis happens when the cartilage and other protective tissues between joints begin to wear down. It is a big reason for arthritis hand problems. Rheumatoid Arthritis is another form. In that case, the autoimmune system in the body is turning on the linings of the joints. You see this in arthritis hand problems that include gnarled joints and painful swelling.

What are common symptoms of arthritis hand? Pain has to be the leading arthritis hand symptom. Other common ones include stiffness, swelling, crepitation and cysts. Stiffness happens as the swelling increases around joints in the hand. The swelling causes the muscles to overcompensate. Swelling happens in response to the pain. Crepitation is the popping noise that you might be here in the joints of a hand crippled with arthritis. Loose joints are another symptom of Arthritis Hand. Cysts can occur at the joints when the different sections of the fingers are going in different directions.

What causes arthritis hand? There are over 100 forms of arthritis. Moreover, many of them will give you arthritis hand symptoms. One of the most common is osteoarthritis. This form of arthritis happens when the natural cushioning between joints begins to wear down. People find that the bones begin grinding against each other. That causes the pain you feel in the joints. Another common cause of arthritis hand is rheumatoid arthritis. This form of the disease happens when the autoimmune system begins to attack the lining of the joints. This causes the swelling and pain you feel can be reduced using Osteojuv.

How do you treat arthritis hand? Doctors want to take the least invasive approach in most cases. With arthritis hand, that usually begins with exercising the hands regularly. Regular, gentle movements can actually help the hands retain their flexibility and help keep swelling and pain at a minimum. Painkillers are another treatment option with arthritis hand. They usually begin with OTC painkillers and progress to prescription medications later. Orthopedic devices and surgery are other treatment options your doctor may recommend. These are the facts you need to know about arthritis in the hand. You need to find out if you have it and treat it quickly if you do.

11 Health Conditions You Can Develop If You Have Psoriatic Arthritis

There are many types of arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis is one of them. This form of arthritis develops when you suffer a skin disorder known as psoriasis. Psoriatic disorder causes inflammation in the joints causing joint pains and stiffness. Inflammation mostly affects body limbs like hand and feet. At more severe cases arthritis causes destruction of the joint which can lead to irreversible disfigurement. Psoriatic arthritis has no known cure. Its treatment can involve mitigating the symptoms. Psoriasis brings about other comorbidities that can be managed. Here are some of the conditions associated with psoriatic arthritis:

1. Bone disease

The study shows that psoriatic patients have a high risk of suffering the bone disease, osteoporosis. Psoriatic arthritis is an irreversible condition. As the patients grow the bone diseases gets worse. People suffering this kind of arthritis should always do a bone screening with their physician. Going the natural way might also aid. Including foods in your diet that will enrich the bone mass can help improve the symptoms

2. Inflammation disease of the eye, uveitis

Ever looked in a mirror and found your eyes swollen? Suffering from psoriatic arthritis disease makes you prone to inflammation disease of the eye. The inflammation can make your eyes swell. Uveitis is a condition which is manageable and can be easily treated.

3. Low metabolic rate

The low metabolic rate can bring you problems like too much abdominal weight and it can also heighten your blood pressure. The study pointed out that women affected by psoriasis suffered the effects of low metabolism than men. Psoriatic arthritis is linked with reduced metabolism. As a result, your energy levels may drop drastically. Screening can help point out the problem and correct it.

4. Dreadful inflammatory bowel disease

Psoriasis is highly linked to inflammatory bowel disease like the Crohn's disease. Patients with psoriatic arthritis are always at a great risk for inflammatory bowel disease. If you experience stools with blood, diarrhea and abdominal pains you should see your doctor, these are symptoms of Crohn's disease. Your doctor might give you non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce aching and inflammation.

5. Depression

Psoriasis greatly cost emotional health. This brings about moodiness, feeling embarrassed all the time and low self- esteem which are basically signs of depression. Diagnosing depression at an early stage can help down play the effects of psoriasis. Depression affects the mental and emotional health. It can result in loss of social life. Support from family friends and psychologist can be of great significance in addressing symptoms linked to depression.

6. Type 2 diabetes

The study shows that people with psoriatic arthritis are more likely to get diabetes. Type 2 diabetes come with the following symptoms: suddenly feeling dehydrated and fatigues. Psoriatic arthritis treatment involves treating the comorbidities associated with the disorder. Early treatment of diabetes can help lessen the harm caused on the body.

7. High risk for cardiovascular disease

This is a heart disease. Psoriatic arthritis poses high risk for cardiovascular disease in its patients. The risk gets higher with severe of the psoriasis condition. The patients get exposed to strokes and heart attacks. Regular checks with your GP will help avoid onset of detrimental stroke and heart attacks.

8. Obesity or being overweight

Some psoriatic arthritis conditions are inevitable. The disease can increase the chances of obesity condition. Losing some extra pounds in a healthy way may involve using natural remedies like alkaline diet. Losing weight will make the psoriatic arthritis treatment work better.

9. Sick liver, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Study shows that psoriatic arthritis can get you a liver disease. Liver has a significant function in the human body. Liver disease can complicate things. Treatment can help reduce impacts of Psoriatic arthritis.

10. Cancer development

Once at a developed stage cancers are hard to manage. Psoriatic arthritis exposes people to some types of cancers. Some people can get cancers like that of the skin. Keeping in mind that they have very high risk for cancer patients should consider getting cancer screens according to your doctors instructions. This will help manage cancer if any at early stages.

11. Going dumb

Psoriatic arthritis cause harm on the delicate inner ears. Damaged ears, as a result, lead to loss of the ability to hear. Only a few patients might be exposed to the condition. Discussions with your GP will assist.

Conclusion

Regular screening for conditions that come with psoriatic arthritis will help lessen its symptoms and make the treatment more effective. Regular checkups with your rheumatologist and your GP will help make life easier living with psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis is a permanent disease; it comes with much comorbidity which is manageable decreasing the effects of your symptoms. Severity of the symptoms is different on people. Healthy lifestyle choices and regular exercising can be done to relieve the symptoms at personal level.