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Arthritis Symptoms
Arthritis been appreciated in the United States and throughout the world. For many people with arthritis, however, joint involvement is not the extent of the problem. Many forms of arthritis are classified as systemic, meaning they can affect the whole body. Arthritis can be both chronic as well as infective. Chronic arthritis again has two principle forms, rheumatoid arthritis and Degenerative or Osteoarthritis. Both have different symptoms of arthritis.
In these diseases, arthritis can cause damage to virtually any bodily organ or system, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, blood vessels and skin. Arthritis-related conditions primarily affect the muscles and the bones.
While often referred to as if it were a single disease, arthritis is actually an umbrella term used for a group of more than 100 medical conditions that collectively affect nearly 70 million adults and 300,000 children in America alone. Arthritic damage can lead to joint weakness, instability and visible deformities that, depending on the location of joint involvement, can interfere with the most basic daily tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, using a computer keyboard, cutting your food or brushing your teeth.
The term arthritis is used to describe changes in the joints which may be either inflammatory or degenerative in character. If only one joint is affected the condition is referred to as monoarticular arthritis; if several joints are involved it is called polyarticular arthritis or polyarthritis (Greek: poly= many).
Symptoms of infective arthritis:
- The patient feels ill and toxic with a swinging temperature and a furred tongue. Leucocytes are always evident, and a blood culture may confirm the presence of the septicemia.
- The affected joint is painful.
- Extreme tenderness is present all over the joint capsule
- The slightest movement or jar causes extreme pain
- On aspiration turbid or purulent fluid is obtained from the joint
- Even if the infections are a little less acute, the symptoms are found though less marked; the tenderness is less extreme, some movement of the joint is possible, and aspiration produces a serous fluid.
- Traumatic arthritis is always preceded by a definite history of injury; the patient's general condition is good and the condition rapidly subsides with rest.
Symptoms of chronic arthritis:
- The joints ache and swell, and smaller joints appear spindle shaped in Rheumatoid arthritis. Pain and muscle spasm are common features; and in the late stages very severe pain, and gross destruction and deformity of the joints, may develop.
- Pain, which is increased by use of the joint and subsides on rest, e.g. the patient can only walk for a limited distance. This is the main symptom of osteoarthritis.