Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Arthritis - Don't Let It Get You Down

By Jennifer King

Arthritis is an autoimmune ailment that causes an aching inflammation of the joints. Arthritis is a systemic disease, most commonly affecting extra-articular fibres throughout the body including the muscles, heart, blood vessels, lungs and skin. Arthritis may also cause inflammation of the tissue surrounding the joints, as well as causing symptoms to other organs in the body. Arthritis is two to three times more likely to occur in a women than in a man, and commonly afflicts someone between the ages of 20 and 50. But RA can also burdon small children and adults older than age 50.

About 60% of RA patients are unable to work 10 years after the onset of their disease. arthritis is a common rheumatic disease, affecting over two million people in the United States. The disease is three times more likely to become a problem in women as in men. It plaguesAstrikes people of all ethnicities equally. The disease can cripple any joint, but the most typical joints are in the hands and/or feet. The disease produces swelling, pain,redness or a hot (or warm) sensation in the lining of a joint, the part where 2 or more bones actually touch. Of the world's population, about one percent of people are believed to have the disease, but this percentage does vary among different groups of people.

Rheumatoid arthritis is different from osteoarthritis, the typical kind of arthritis that commonly comes with older age. Rheumatoid arthritis will affect body parts as well as joints, like your eyes, mouth and lungs. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune affliction, which means arthritis results from your immune system threatening your body's own tissues. Rheumatoid arthritis typically affects the lesser joints, like those of the feet, hands, knees, elbows, wrists and ankles.

Rheumatoid arthritis may start gradually or with a sudden, severe attack with flu-like symptoms. It's imperrative to keep in mind that arthritis's symptoms vary from person to person. In some people the affliction will be quite gentle with periods of activity, or joint inflammation with inactivity. Along with painful, inflamed joints, arthritis can result in inflammation in additional body tissues and organs. In 20% of sufferers, bumps called rheumatoid nodules appear under your skin, commonly over bony areas.

Relief for the disease has improved over time. Corticosteroids which are drugs, such as methylprednisolone and prednisone, decrease inflammation and pain, and slow joint damage. Drugs used to control the disease fall into two categories: those that are used to relieve symptoms, and medications that have the potential to change the course of the disease. Exercise is also an imperative part of any treatment program. Immunosuppressants medicines act to tame your immune system, which is out of control in the disease. Some of the commonly used immunosuppressants include cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), leflunomide (Arava) and azathioprine (Imuran).

These medications could have potentially serious side effects such as increased susceptibility to infection. Rituximab-Rituximab decreases the amount of B cells in the body, and B cells are part of the cause of inflammation.

Anti depressants are commonly used as well. The most common of these that are used for RA pain and sleeping problems are trazodone (Desyrel), amitriptyline, and nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor).

RA Alleviating Tips

You can try non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve), celecoxib (Celebrex), ibuprofen (Motrin and others), and many others. NSAIDs are a kind of drug that decreases swelling and pain.

A variety of anti-cytokine drugs are now being used to treat agonizing disease states such as Arthritis.

Joint replacement surgery may be required for severely affected joints, such as knee replacement.

Manmade drugs such as Cortisteroids can be taken. These are drugs that closely resemble cortisone which is a natural hormone produced by the body.

Some light exercise might be beneficial for increasing the blood circulation to the joints. - 14130

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