- Joint pain
- Inflammation redness, swelling, and warmth in the affected areas
- Loss of motion in a joint or joints
If the doctor thinks you have a rheumatic disease, he’ll probably send you to a rheumatologist a doctor who’s particularly trained to treat them.
Your rheumatologist will study to diagnose the condition, then supervise a treatment plan for you that may likely include medications, healthy diets, regular exercise, stress management,.
What Causes Rheumatic Disease?
Most of these conditions happen when the immune system goes wrong and attacks the tissues. Doctors believe rheumatic diseases are caused by environmental factors and the combination of genes.
In general, certain gene variants can increase a person’s sensitivity to rheumatic diseases, and some of the factors in the environment may trigger the symptoms of the disease.
Doctors aren’t sure what may be the cause of this. Sometimes it’s in your genes or other times it’s as a result of things around you, like pollution, cigarette smoke, or things that cause an infection. rheumatic diseases often affect women more than men.
Common Rheumatic Disorder
There are more than 200 distinct rheumatic diseases. These are the most common ones :
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Lupus
- Spondyloarthropathies – ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis
- Osteoarthritis
- Scleroderma
- Infectious arthritis
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
What Causes Rheumatic Diseases
- Swelling and pains in parts of the joints (mainly the joints on both sides of the body, like wrists or both ankles)
- Joint stiffness, mainly in the morning
- Problems in other organs like lungs
- Fatigue
- Lumps called rheumatoid nodules
Diagnosis:
You’ll get a checkup done by a doctor. The doctor may take samples of your joint fluid and X-ray. He’ll also conduct blood tests on different signs of inflammation. which may include;
- Antinuclear antibody
- Complete blood count
- Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides
- C-reactive protein
- Rheumatoid factor
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
Lupus is also known as (SLE) systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease. It can affect many organs in the body system.
Symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Joint stiffness
- Joint pain
- Sun sensitivity
- Rashes, which includes a “butterfly” rash across the cheeks
- Hair loss
- Problems in other organs such as the kidneys
- Blood disorders, example anemia and low levels of white blood cells
- Blue or white fingers or toes when exposed to cold (called Raynaud’s phenomenon)
- Seizures or strokes
- Chest pain from inflammation of the lining of the heart or lungs
Diagnosis:
Your doctor will ask of your medical history, conduct a physical exam, and order lab tests of both blood and urine samples. Blood tests for lupus include:
- Anti-double stranded DNA antibody (Anti-dsDNA)
- Antinuclear antibody test (ANA).
- Anti-Smith antibody (Anti-Sm)
Ankylosing spondylitis starts gradually as lower back pain. It in a word involves the joints where the spine attaches to the pelvis, known as the sacroiliac joints.
Ankylosing spondylitis is more common in young men, mostly from the teenage years to age 30.
Symptoms:
- Gradual pain in the lower back and buttocks
- Pain in the back, mainly at rest and when getting up
- The pain felt between the shoulder blades and in the neck
- Pain and stiffness that gets better after activity
- Pain in the middle back and the upper back and neck
If the condition worsens, the spine may become stiffer. It may be hard to bend for everyday activities.
Diagnosis:
Your doctor will conduct a physical exam and ask regarding your medical history. You may get X-rays, looking at the sacroiliac joints. A blood test for a protein called HLA-B27 may also help to confirm a diagnosis.
Sjogren’s syndrome causes parts of the body to dry out, like the eyes or mouth. Some people also have Rheumatic Arthritic and lupus. Others just have Sjogren’s. The causes are unknown, but it happens when the immune system attacks those body parts. It’s commonly in women than men.
Symptoms:
- Dry eyes (the glands in the eyes don’t make enough tears)
- Dry mouth (the glands in the mouth don’t make enough saliva)
- Eye irritation and burning
- Tooth decay, gum disease
- Joint pain and stiffness
- Swollen glands on the sides of your face
- Internal organ diseases
Diagnosis: Your doctor will conduct a physical exam and ask regarding your medical history. To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor may do a biopsy, whereby take tissue from the inner lip to test in a lab.
A kind of autoimmune arthritis often linked with skin symptoms of psoriasis.
- Symmetric: affects joints on both sides of the body, It’s the most common.
- Distal: affects the ends of the fingers and toes, along with the nails.
- Asymmetric: doesn’t affect the same joints on either side. It may be milder than other forms.
- Arthritis mutilans: attacks the small joints at the ends of the fingers and toes.
- Spondylitis: affects the neck and spine.
- Painful swollen joints
- Stiffness -a range of motion or loss
- Tendon or ligament pain
- Swollen fingers and toes
- Changes to fingernails and toenails
- Fatigue
However, most people may have skin symptoms before they get joint symptoms. It often affects the joints first. Some people may not have skin symptoms.
Diagnosis:
Diagnosis is a hard disease to pin down. It can match with Rheumatic Arthritis.
so it’s necessary for the doctor to ask of your medical history and that those related to you. The doctor may look at the joints to see if they’re inflamed or swollen and might draw fluid from one to make sure gout or infectious arthritis isn’t the cause of the problems.
A skin test can also be conducted for signs of psoriasis. Imaging tests can show if you have joint damage.
- Pain
- Warmth
- Swelling
- Stiffness
- Calcium lumps under your skin
- Dry mouth, eyes, skin, or vagina
- Heart, kidney, or lung problems
- Digestive trouble
- Stiff, swollen, warm, or tender joints
- Thickened skin on your fingers
- Weak muscles
- Telangiectasia, small dilated blood vessels that can be seen through the skin
- Raynaud’s phenomenon lowers blood flow to fingers and toes which may make them turn blue
Diagnosis:
The doctor will ask concerning your medical history and the current symptoms. He’ll apparently conduct blood tests to examine for antibodies (proteins) linked to scleroderma. Which includes:
- Antinuclear antibody (ANA)
- Scl-70 antibody
- Centromere antibody (ACA)/centromere pattern
- Intense joint swelling and pain
- Usually only one joint affected
- Most likely in the knees, but it can also affect the hips, wrists, and ankles
Diagnosis:
The doctor will conduct a physical exam and ask concerning your medical history. The doctor might take a sample of fluid from the joint to conclude what’s causing the infection and also an X-ray can be done or other imaging tests, like an ultrasound, to see if there’s any damage.
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
The common form of arthritis in children. The immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues, causing inflammation in joints and other organs. The common joint symptoms include:
Symptoms:
- Joint pain
- Swollen joints
- Rash
- Fever
Diagnosis:
The doctor will ask concerning the child’s health history to find out how long the child has been having the symptoms. Then he’ll check the joints for swelling, the range of motion, and redness.
He’ll feasibly conduct blood tests that check for different signs of inflammation. These include:
- Complete blood count
- Antinuclear antibody (ANA)
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)
- Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP)
- Rheumatoid factor (RF)
- HLA-B27
- Intense joint pain: It’ll probably be in the big toe, but it could also be in the ankles, knees, elbows, wrists, or fingers.
- Inflammation and redness: The joint will be swollen, red, and tender.
- Discomfort: Even after the sharp pain goes away, the joint will still hurt.
- Trouble moving: The joint will be stiff.
Diagnosis:
Gout can look like a lot of other diseases. The doctor will ask if you have:
- Sudden joint pain, often at night
- Pain-free times between attacks
- One or two joints affected
Lab tests for gout include:
- Uric acid looks for high levels in the blood
- Synovial fluid analysis to check for uric acid crystals in your joint
- Complete blood count looks for white blood cells to rule out other conditions
- Basic metabolic panel checks how well your kidneys work
- Tests for inflammation like anti-nuclear antibodies and rheumatoid factor
- Fever
- Poor appetite
- Stiffness that worsen in the morning and after sitting or lying
- Weight loss
- Pains at least two of the following body parts:
- Hips
- Neck
- Buttocks
- Upper arms and shoulders
- Thighs
Diagnosis:
The doctor will ask concerning medical history and conduct a physical exam. They also do blood tests to check for different signs of inflammation. The purpose is to rule out other autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. Tests include:
- Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides
- Antinuclear antibody
- Complete blood count
- C-reactive protein
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- Rheumatoid factor
Arthritis caused by an infection in another part of your body, like the intestine, genitals, or urinary tract.
Symptoms:
Are often mild at first. You may not notice it for a few weeks.
The urinary tract is usually the first place affected, though women may not notice symptoms. They include:
- Pain when you pee
- The need to go more often
Eyes is another place symptoms for them. You’ll notice:
- Pain
- Irritation
- Redness
- Blurry vision
Joints are usually the last affected area.
- Painful, swollen knees, ankles, feet, or wrists
- Swollen tendons tendinitis
- Pain in your lower back or buttocks
- Swelling where tendons attach to bones (enthesitis)
- Inflammation in your spine or the spot where the pelvis and spine connect
Diagnosis:
The doctor will examine your medical history and current symptoms. He’ll also look for signs of joint inflammation and test your range of motion.
He’ll take X-rays of the joints, pelvis, and spine to examine for swelling, joint damage, and other signs of reactive arthritis. He’ll also take a swab from the urethra (if you’re a man) or your cervix (if you’re a woman) to aid spot signs of the disease. A sample of fluid from the joint can help rule out other conditions. Blood tests can show signs of inflammation, including:
- C-reactive protein
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- HLA-B27
- Complete blood count
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