Rheumatoid Arthritis signs, symptoms, causes - Rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a form of chronic arthritis. This disease affects chiefly young adults, mainly women, and one or many joints may be involved; it also occurs in children (Still's Disease). It is generalized affection of joints, and their synovial membranes, cartilages, capsules and the muscles supplying them; but other connective tissues elsewhere in the body might also be affected. Rheumatoid arthritis is now a major cause of crippling in European countries, but it is not common in the tropics.

Signs and Symptoms of Rhuematoid Arthritis:

The joints ace and swell, and the smaller joints appear spindle-shaped. 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.
In children the condition tends to develop suddenly many joints being affected from the beginning, the small joints of the hands and feet being, as a rule, affected first.
The onset of the condition is accompanied by fever, enlargement of the spleen and lymphatic glands and considerable pain muscle-spasm in the affected joints.
Severe muscle wasting occurs rapidly, and if early preventive measures are not taken severe and obstinate deformities will follow.
In adults rheumatoid arthritis is also in most cases, insidious in onset. But whereas in children the disease process tends to become arrested after a time, in adults the condition usually continues to progress for many years, involving more and more articulations with gross disorganization of the affected joints.

Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis:

The causes of the conditions are not yet fully understood. While infection form the focus of the respiratory, alimentary, urinary or genital tracts is sometimes a factor, recent research has also demonstrated the importance of the endocrine glands as both as a cause and a therapy.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment:

Rheumatoid arthritis has conservative or surgical treatment. Conservative treatment is general supportive treatment; attention to the health of the patient, good nutrition and all sources of a septic wound eliminated.

Drugs like aspirin, Indomethacin, Butazolidine are generally administered as a part of the medication. Physiotherapy is also very helpful in alleviating pain and stiffness.

Surgery is also advised. Great advances have been made in the surgical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The best treatment of rheumatoid arthritis includes a variety of different methods and techniques. When applied in a comprehensive daily program it is very effective. Rest is a cardinal principle of management and is usually prescribed as a number of hours a day. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease of the whole person and rest must involve the whole body- the person's mind and body. The bed of the arthritis patient should be firm and pillows under the knees and shoulders should be avoided. The feet should be supported by a board. These simple measures should always be kept in mind in order to keep your rheumatoid arthritis in check.

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