Rheumatoid arthritis: causes, treatment

Rheumatoid arthritis, whose causes are most often autoimmune reactions of the body to some infectious complexes, is a complex systemic disease of connective tissue, accompanied by inflammatory joint damage. Most often it proceeds according to the type of progressive chronic destructive polyarthritis. Only in 10% of diseases the activity of rheumatoid arthritis is a consequence of oligo- or monoarthritis. Articular syndrome, which is the basis of the clinical picture, is often characterized by the involvement of small joints in this process. This disease tends to symmetrical lesions of the feet and brushes.

Like other diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, the causes of which are not fully understood, has its initial signs. The earlier this disease is recognized, the more effective its therapy will be. Initial signs of rheumatoid arthritis: swelling; Arthralgia (pain during movement, and then at rest); Stiffness of movements in the morning; Violation of brush functions; Deformation of the joints; Dislocations; Ankylosis; Contracture. There are general symptoms of this disease, which include: intoxication, fever, rheumatoid vasculitis, an increase in lymph nodes of the liver, spleen, kidney, heart, lungs, eyes, anemia. The above symptoms can be expressed in varying degrees.

What else is remarkable about rheumatoid arthritis? The causes of this disease are different, therefore, physicians distinguish seropositive (characterized by a positive rheumatoid factor, characterized by antiglobulin antibodies / immunoglobulins) and a seronegative type of disease. Antibodies are detected in serum. Any x-ray changes in this disease are delayed compared to the clinic.

How is rheumatoid arthritis treated? The case history of each patient confirms that the best therapeutic effect can be achieved in the early stages of the disease. At this stage, the patient is ultrasound, scintigraphy, magnetic resonance therapy. In the initial stages, treatment with anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs, corticosteroids (via intra-articular administration) is prescribed. Patients with rheumatoid vasculitis corticosteroids are prescribed inside. With the progression of the disease, medicines "Penicillamine" and "Hingamin" are prescribed; Immunosuppressants; Preparations of gold; Physiotherapy. In extreme cases, surgical intervention is prescribed (synovectomy - at an early stage of the disease, reconstructive-reconstructive surgery and endoprosthetics - in the late stages).

Some people have a genetic predisposition to this disease. Rheumatoid arthritis, the causes of which in most cases remain not always clear, women are hit 3 times more often than men. Most often, the progression of the disease begins at 25 and lasts up to 50 years, although there have been cases of its appearance at another age. Treatment of this disease in 75% of patients leads to a reduction in the intensity of symptoms. In 10% of patients, rheumatoid arthritis ends with a disability.