Complete Health Care Guide

Archive for the ‘Arthritis’ Category

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain, stiffness, warmth, redness and inflammation (swelling) in joints. Over time the affected joints may lose their shape, and become damaged. The tissue lining the joints may become thick and can wear down the ligaments, cartilage and bone that surround it as it progresses. Rheumatoid arthritis usually occurs symmetrically, which means that if one knee or hand has the disease, the other usually develops as well.

The cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, although it appears to be an autoimmune disease. When the body’s immune system malfunctions, the white blood cells that normally attack bacteria and viruses attack healthy tissue, in this case to the synovial membrane or tissue covering the joint. As the synovium becomes inflamed, enzymes are released. Over time, these enzymes and certain immune cells damage the cartilage, bones, tendons and ligaments near joints. Read the rest of this entry »

Duration

Psoriatic arthritis tends to be lifelong. However, symptoms vary from person to person, so sometimes it may be mild and sometimes more severe. It is not uncommon for joint problems disappear completely.

Prevention

There is no way to prevent psoriatic arthritis.

Treatment

The main treatment are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn). Corticosteroids like prednisone, which is taken by mouth, are used only occasionally, because they may cause side effects when taken for prolonged periods and psoriasis tends to occur when you stop taking the medication. Place occasionally steroid injections can help when joints are severely inflamed. Read the rest of this entry »

Symptoms

Symptoms include:
- skin rash scaly pink or dull red in patches, especially on the inside of the arms, the front region of the legs and scalp
- inflammation of the joints, especially the fingers, feet or spine
- joint stiffness in the mornings
- pain in the lower back

Psoriatic arthritis can affect other parts of the body, such as fatigue and anemia are common in people with active psoriatic arthritis. Often arthritis is accompanied by inflammation of the tendons and the points where tendons attach to bones, such as heels and fingers. Read the rest of this entry »

Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic (long) in which the person with psoriasis develops signs and symptoms of arthritic joint pain. Psoriasis is a common hereditary condition and the skin that causes scaling on a white-gray skin rash (skin) pink or dull red.

Approximately 5 to 10% of the 3 million people who have psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis affects men and women equally and usually occurs between 30 and 50 years, however, the disease can also occur in children. Most people have the mild form of the disease, although in some cases the symptoms can be very severe.

Types of Psoriatic Arthritis

There are five types of psoriatic arthritis. These are classified according to their severity, if both sides of the body are affected equally and according to the affected joints. Read the rest of this entry »

Prevention

There is no known way to prevent arthritis associated with IBD.

Treatment

There is no good treatment for arthritis associated with IBD. The joint pain could be relieved with a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) such as ibuprofen or naproxen. IBD can cause hemorrhage (bleeding) of the gastrointestinal tract, which may worsen with anticoagulant medications. All NSAIDs may worsen the intestinal inflammation caused by inflammatory bowel disease. Read the rest of this entry »

Symptoms

In addition to the symptoms of IBD on the intestinal tract (such as bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal cramps and fever), people with arthritis associated with ISS have pain, inflammation (swelling), stiffness (particularly in the morning) in the joints inflamed.

Symptoms tend to vary over time, sometimes better and others worse. Often joint symptoms related to bowel symptoms, ie, the joints tend to be more painful and swollen when the gastrointestinal symptoms worsen. The reasons for the visit to the doctor include pain in the lower back in the morning relieved by exercising and “gelling” which means getting stiffer after a period of inactivity. Read the rest of this entry »

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are two disorders: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, characterized by inflammation of the digestive tract. Are thought to be autoimmune disorders in which the body’s immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract and other body pairs.

In some cases, people with inflammatory bowel disease have a type of arthritis similar to rheumatoid arthritis, although there are important differences. In the case of arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease, inflammation tends to affect only a few large joints and does not usually affect both sides of the body in the same manner. For example, could affect the knee of one leg and ankle of the other. Read the rest of this entry »

When To Call a Professional

Call your doctor if symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and joint pain, swelling, limited movement, redness or swelling in the eyes or pain in urination. Call your doctor immediately if you experience pain or burning during urination or a discharge from the penis or vagina. Tell your doctor if you have persistent diarrhea with blood or pain.

Forecast

With treatment, the prognosis of reactive arthritis is good, although the condition is quite variable. Severe cases may be associated with severe damage, eye problems and other symptoms that cause disability, while other cases are much milder and are only annoying. Risk factors in severe cases of the disease include one or more of the following: Read the rest of this entry »

The choice of treatment for reactive arthritis depends on your specific symptoms. If you still have an infection, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics, usually for seven to 10 days. Some physicians treat chlamydia infections with antibiotics for three months. A limited number of studies have shown that prolonged treatment helps prevent reactive arthritis, but treatment remains controversial. Sexual partners of a person who was recently diagnosed with chlamydia also should be addressed.

For mild arthritis may suffice a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID), with or without reliever such as acetaminophen (Tylenol and other brands). In more severe cases of arthritis, injections of corticosteroids into the inflamed joint can relieve pain, although relief is often temporary. Read the rest of this entry »

Diagnosis

The doctor may suspect that you have reactive arthritis when they manifest the characteristic symptoms after having had an infection. Your doctor will examine you and ask you to have imaging tests such as radiographs of the pelvis or the lower area of ??the spine. Your caregiver may remove fluid from a joint with a needle for examination in the laboratory. The sore joint fluid could contain many white blood cells, although infection is not detected in the joint.

There is no evidence to confirm the diagnosis. Your doctor will diagnose reactive arthritis based on their history of infection, symptoms and physical examination. These tests may detect other conditions that can cause inflammation in the joint, such as infection or gout. Read the rest of this entry »