Understanding Rheumatic Diseases

As we get older, joint pain and fatigue become common discomforts we have to contend with, but when are your joint pain symptoms a sign of a more serious condition? You may want to contact a licensed rheumatology specialist if your joint pain is starting to affect your everyday life.

What are rheumatic diseases?

Rheumatic diseases are diseases that affect your joints, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Arthritis is one of the most widely recognizable of rheumatic diseases, and there are many different variations of this disease including osteoarthritis, rheumatic arthritis, gout, and psoriatic arthritis. 

Regardless of the specific disease, most rheumatic conditions have two things in common, joint pain and fatigue.

Osteoarthritis (OA)

More specifically, osteoarthritis (OA) is noticeable in weight-bearing joints like knees, ankles, and hips. It occurs over time as a degenerative disease and is associated with aging.

OA is the most common form of rheumatic disease and is often self-identified as being present in the joints of the hands, fingers, and wrists.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a bit different. This disease causes your body’s own immune system to attack joint linings in symmetry, affecting both hands, feet, knees, or hips at a time. It can also affect other organs of your body, which exist in pairs like your lungs and eyes.

Gout

Originally nicknamed “the disease of kings” gout is one of the oldest documented forms of rheumatoid disease. It was initially linked to overindulgences of food and drink, which lead many to associate the disease with the rich and powerful, who could, at the time, afford such indulgences.

Today, however, it is well known that gout can affect anyone. It is caused by the presence of too much uric acid in the bloodstream, which crystallizes in the joints. A bout of gout can be sudden and are very painful for the first 36 hours. But an attack can last anywhere between three to 10 days.   

Lupus

Lupus is a serious illness in which the autoimmune system attacks normal tissue. It can cause swelling and inflammation in the joints and damage to kidneys, other organs, and the skin.

Symptoms of Rheumatic Diseases

The most common symptom of rheumatic diseases is joint pain and discomfort. Inflammation of the joints and redness can occur, as well as stiffness. In many cases, rheumatic diseases can limit the functional use of the hands, as it can be painful to position them in certain ways. Additionally, warmth in the affected joints can also be a symptom.

In the case of Lupus, scarring of the skin and organ failure can occur.

Treatment for Rheumatic Diseases

If your symptoms are alarming enough to a general medical practitioner, they will refer you to a rheumatology specialist. This medical professional is specialized in treating these kinds of diseases and will assess your specific symptoms through lab testing.

When treating your specific rheumatic disease, your doctor may prescribe more rest and lowering the stress in your life.

Medications may also be prescribed to help with inflammation, such as non-narcotic or narcotic analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs), corticosteroids, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biologic response modifiers.