Rheumatoid polyarthritis is a chronic inflammatory process that affects mainly small joints in the hands and feet. Unlike the "wear" of the joints, characteristic of osteoarthritis, in this case the damage has a different nature: only the membrane suffers, inflammation of which causes severe pain and can lead to bone erosion and joint deformation.
Rheumatoid polyarthritis, the symptoms and treatment of which can turn into a real problem, is an autoimmune disease and occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues. In addition to joint pathologies, this disorder can cause diseases of other organs of the body, including the skin, eyes, lungs and blood vessels.
Although this disease can develop at any age, most often it affects people older than forty years. Most affected by women.
Given the nature of rheumatoid polyarthritis, treatment (drugs and procedures) is aimed primarily at controlling symptoms and preventing joint damage.
Symptoms
Typical signs of pathology include:
- swelling and increased sensitivity of the joints (they can also become warm to the touch);
- morning ossification, which can last for several hours;
- the presence of solid cones of connective tissue that can be felt under the skin of the hands (rheumatoid nodules) ;
- fatigue, fever, unplanned weight loss.
Rheumatoid polyarthritis, a treatment whose symptoms and causes are identified and approved in the early stages of the disease, most often affects small joints first - usually those that connect the fingers to the hands and feet.
As the pathology progresses, symptoms almost always extend to the wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, hips, and shoulders. In most cases, signs of disturbance appear in the same joints on both sides (respectively, in the right and left limbs).
Signs of the disease often vary in severity and may even subside temporarily, then return again. Periods of intensification of the disease - a kind of outbreak - alternate with periods of relative remission, when the swelling and pain subside or completely disappear. Over time, rheumatoid polyarthritis, the symptoms and treatment of which the patient started, causes deformation and displacement of the joints.
See your doctor if you notice that there is a focus of constant inflammation in the area of the joints that makes you uncomfortable.
Causes
Rheumatoid polyarthritis develops when the immune system attacks the synovial membrane surrounding the joints.
The subsequent inflammatory process thickens the synovial membrane and can ultimately lead to the destruction of cartilage and bone.
The tendons and ligaments that hold the joint in place weaken and stretch. Gradually, the joint loses its shape and shifts.
Modern medicine has not yet figured out what exactly causes the immune system to respond inappropriately to the synovial membrane, but experts suggest that a genetic factor is involved in this aspect. Although the genes themselves do not contain any prerequisites for the development of such a pathology as rheumatoid polyarthritis (symptoms and treatment are fully described in this article), they may contain data on a predisposition to negative environmental effects. This means that infection of the body with a specific strain of the virus or bacteria can initiate joint pathology.
Risk factors
Circumstances that increase the risk of developing the disease are as follows:
- Floor. In women, rheumatoid polyarthritis is diagnosed more often.
- Age. Although this disorder can occur at any age, in most cases its symptoms appear between forty and sixty years.
- Family history. If your family member is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, the symptoms and treatment of which have been approved by a reliable doctor, you are at risk.
Complications
The disease increases the risk of developing the following pathologies:
- Osteoporosis. Rheumatoid polyarthritis - both on its own and in combination with drug therapy aimed at its treatment - can increase the risk of osteoporosis. This is a condition in which the bones become weaker and thinner, as a result of which even a slight blow can lead to a crack.
- Carpal (carpal) canal syndrome. If the disease has spread to the wrists, the inflammatory process can compress the nerve, which affects the functioning of the hand and fingers.
- Heart disease. Such joint pathology increases the risk of thickening and clogging of the arteries. In addition, it can lead to inflammation of the bag surrounding the heart.
- Lung diseases. Rheumatoid polyarthritis, symptoms (treatment with folk remedies in this case is unlikely to be effective) which are combined with susceptibility to lung diseases, can cause inflammation of the lower respiratory tract and scarring of lung tissue. As a result, the patient will suffer from progressive shortness of breath.
Before a visit to the doctor
If you suspect rheumatoid arthritis, symptoms, treatment, causes of the pathology and prognosis, it is best to discuss with a competent doctor as soon as possible. It is recommended that you first make an appointment with a therapist, who, if necessary, will redirect you to a rheumatologist - a specialist in the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. It is the rheumatologist who will evaluate your condition.
Before you go for a medical consultation, make a list that includes the following items:
- A detailed description of your symptoms
- information about the diseases, injuries and other health problems that you suffered in the past;
- health and disease data suffered by your parents, brothers and sisters;
- A complete list of medications, vitamin complexes and dietary supplements that you take regularly;
- questions that you would like to ask your doctor.
What the doctor will say
The specialist may ask you some of the following questions:
- When did you first notice the signs of the disease?
- Have the symptoms of the disease changed over time?
- What joints hurt?
- Do any of the activities worsen or improve your condition?
- Do pathological symptoms impede your routine, day-to-day responsibilities?
- If the doctor confirms that you have polyarthritis, the symptoms, causes, diet and treatment will be the primary topics for consultation.
Diagnostics
Rheumatoid polyarthritis is difficult to recognize in the early stages, since the primary signs and symptoms of the disease are identical to the manifestations of other pathological conditions. At the moment, there is no such blood test or type of physical examination that could unambiguously confirm the assumptions of patients and doctors. However, in the presence of significant discomfort and inflammation, it is necessary to start treatment in a timely manner, and therefore specialists are doing everything possible to clarify the alleged diagnosis.
So, an initial medical examination is performed to check the condition of the joints for swelling, redness and heat. In addition, with such an examination, the doctor checks the reflexes and muscle strength.
In some cases, the method of radiography is used, which allows you to monitor changes in the joints over time.
Blood tests
Patients diagnosed with rheumatoid polyarthritis (symptoms and folk remedies are listed in the text) have an increased ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), which indicates the presence of an inflammatory process in the body. Other blood tests help to detect rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrulline peptide antibodies.
Treatment
Although rheumatoid polyarthritis (symptoms, treatment, diagnosis, prevention - all this is still being studied by specialists) is a fairly common violation, today there is no unique method for treating this disease. Drug therapy can only reduce inflammation in the joints, relieve pain and prevent or slow down the destruction of tissues.
Medicines
After detecting a disease, rheumatoid polyarthritis, the causes, symptoms and treatment features of which should be described in detail by your attending physician, drug therapy is prescribed. Since most drugs used in this case cause serious side effects, specialists try to prescribe the least dangerous drugs in the first place. However, as the disease progresses, you will still need stronger medications - or a combination of several drugs.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs relieve pain and reduce inflammation. Some of them are sold in pharmacies according to OTC rules. This, for example, ibuprofen and naproxen sodium. More effective drugs in this group are available on prescription. Their side effects can occur in the form of tinnitus, gastritis, heart dysfunction, damage to the liver and kidneys.
- Steroids. Corticosteroids, such as prednisone, reduce inflammation and pain and slow joint damage. Side effects include thinning of bones, weight gain, and diabetes. Doctors usually prescribe such medications in order to relieve acute symptoms of the disease and recommend subsequently gradually abandoning the use of corticosteroids.
- Basic anti-inflammatory drugs (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs). If you are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, treatment (drugs and procedures) may consist in slowing down the process of joint destruction and preventing damage to other tissues. For this purpose, basic anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed, among which methotrexate, leflunomide, hydroxychloroquine and sulfasalazine are most often used. Side effects include liver damage, bone marrow suppression, and severe lung infections.
Folk remedies
If you read about the symptoms and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in a book or on the Internet and for personal reasons do not want to see doctors (alas, this happens), try to cope with the disease with folk remedies - in any case, they at least do not cause such serious side effects, like pharmacy medicines.
For the treatment of joints, proponents of alternative medicine use evening primrose, blackcurrant and borage seed oil, as well as dietary supplements with a high content of fish oil. All of these substances can interact with various medications, so be sure to get the opinion of a qualified therapist or rheumatologist before using them.