Many people aged 20 to 50 suffer from joint diseases. The most common of these is rheumatoid arthritis. This article will discuss what this disease is, how to identify and treat it.
Infectious nonspecific (or rheumatoid) polyarthritis is a lesion of the connective tissue in the joint system. In contrast to the rheumatic, rheumatoid form of the disease, a progressive lesion of small joints of the hands, fingers, feet, and others, followed by the development of deformity, is characteristic. Not only joints are affected, but also the skin, spleen, lymph nodes and kidneys.
In most cases, the signs of the disease appear after hypothermia, colds and infectious diseases (tonsillitis, flu, otitis media). Moreover, joint damage in women is observed 3 times more often than in males. 15 - 20% of cases lead to further disability. In the form of the course, rheumatoid polyarthritis can be acute and chronic.
Rheumatoid polyarthritis - symptoms
In diseased patients, at the initial stage, a slight increase in temperature (up to 37.5 ° C), a decrease in appetite, in most cases, a rapid heartbeat, are noted. After 1.5 - 2 months, the patient begins to lose weight dramatically, there is swelling and pain in the affected joints, body temperature - increased.
Joint lesions appear symmetrically, pain is disturbed not only with movement or walking, but also with complete immobility. The nature of the pain in the joints is progressive, which increases in bad weather or in the morning. At the onset of the disease, the pain is passing, but with further progression is often constant. Over time, new joints are involved in the current process of the disease.
Another symptom is stiff joints in the morning. In the mornings, after sleep, the patient hardly gets out of bed, hardly moves his hands, bends and extends his knees and fingers. This condition disappears after a short warm-up. This symptom is characteristic of an early stage of polyarthritis. And here the main thing is not to miss the moment and consult a doctor in a timely manner.
External signs are indicated by persistent swelling of the joints, slight reddening of the skin, changes in the outlines of the joints. The affected limbs have a “ruddy” appearance, the muscles are thinner and thinner, deformation and fragility of the nails are observed, with pronounced longitudinal white stripes.
The skin is cold and clammy to the touch; in the joints there are seals in the form of nodules. Rheumatoid nodules are the most characteristic sign of polyarthritis. If other symptoms, such as swelling and stiffness, can occur in the presence of other diseases, then the presence of nodules is not. Nodules are located under the skin, with a diameter of up to 2 cm, in the form of whitish and painless seals over the extensor region of the affected joints.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis is based on x-ray, laboratory, and clinical studies. A decrease in white blood cells in the blood, an increase in ESR, a concentration of sialic acid (above 0.2) and fibrinogen (more than 3 g / l), a reaction to a C-reactive protein are characteristic. The bones of patients are depleted in calcium, narrowing of the joint spaces occurs.
Rheumatoid polyarthritis - treatment
Treatment of the disease should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor, in cases of complications mandatory hospitalization is indicated. The treatment of polyarthritis is quite lengthy and includes the use of:
- anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs. They relieve inflammation, pain, have a quick effect. Side effects - ulceration and digestive upset;
- corticosteroids that relieve inflammation, relieve pain and other symptoms;
- basic anti-rheumatic drugs that modify the course of the disease (hydrosichloroquine, sulfazaline);
- drugs that prevent the formation of tumor necrosis (adalimumab, infliximab, etanercept) by injecting subcutaneously or intravenously;
- physiotherapy (cryotherapy, ozokerite treatment, magnetic therapy, ultrasound and paraffin therapy). It is prescribed in combination with drug therapy. It will help to normalize metabolism, restore blood flow to diseased joints, and slow down the process of reducing bone mass.
Recently, blood purification procedures have been effectively applied (hemosorption, plasmapheresis). In some cases, a surgical operation to remove the spleen may be the best solution.
If a disease such as rheumatoid arthritis is detected, treatment should be carried out immediately until the disease has become chronic. In the future, it is extremely important to prevent a new manifestation of the disease. For this, special attention should be paid to the treatment of such chronic diseases as pharyngitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis, and dysbiosis.