Rheumatism is a disease of the connective tissue of all organs and systems of the human body. Especially in this group of diseases, articular rheumatism is distinguished.
Rheumatism: diagnosis of the disease
Joint rheumatism develops from streptococcal infection. In this case, the largest joints of the musculoskeletal system of the human body are primarily affected. There is pain and stiffness when moving. There is a swelling in the joints of the hands and feet.
Currently, it is customary to think that rheumatism of joints is a disease of our grandparents. Studies have shown that there is a tendency to develop this disease in people at an earlier age. In the risk group, in the first place, it is worth attributing people whose close relatives have rheumatism of the joints. Symptoms are often observed in adolescents from 8 to 16 years old. People suffering from frequent nasopharyngeal disease are also a risk group, as are those who have a rare and special group B protein in their blood. The disease is most common among women.
Rheumatism: causes of the disease
As a result of numerous studies, scientists have found that the onset of this disease is associated with an allergic reaction to infection of the body with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus . During the period of the disease, streptococcal infection (acute tonsillitis, scarlet fever, chronic pharyngitis, middle ear inflammation) 3% of patients get articular rheumatism (arthritis). When an infection enters the human body, the immune system produces specific antibodies. These antibodies recognize streptococcus by specific molecules. There are identical molecules in the human body. Therefore, there is an attack of antibodies on your own body. In this process, inflammation is formed in the tissues, mainly joints. During the course of the disease, the inflammatory process extends to all joints of the limbs, less often to the joints of the spine. Most often, the disease manifests itself in the cold season - overcooling of the body contributes to the development of rheumatism of the joints, the symptoms of which are acute.
They can have a mild character and rheumatism of the joints, the symptoms and course of the disease can be taken for the manifestations of a common cold or SARS.
Joint rheumatism: symptoms
General malaise, aching in the bones, fever, sweating. If anti-inflammatory therapy is carried out with such symptoms, then joint pain stops after a couple of hours. Without specific treatment, joint pain can be troubling for several weeks. Often on the skin there are redness or subcutaneous rheumatic nodules, muscle twitching, impaired coordination, weakness of the muscular system are observed. The onset of the disease manifests itself gradually: with morning rise there is stiffness, pain in the joints during movement, a slight swelling. With a prolonged inflammatory process, joint deformation develops. First, small joints of the hand, wrist and knee are affected, after inflammation it also passes to the tendons of the muscles. This becomes noticeable with a decrease in muscle mass near the inflamed joint. Diagnosis of such a disease as articular rheumatism is carried out by laboratory and instrumental methods: ECG, blood sampling to study the presence of streptococcus, with a determination of its sensitivity to antibiotics, echocardiography, and X-ray examinations of the chest and joints.
Joint rheumatism is a disease that, in most cases, leads to joint deformation. But the most important thing is that it very often affects the heart and even leads to the appearance of its vice. With a correctly established diagnosis in the early stages of the disease, many complications can be avoided.