Arthritis: a term, several disorders

Arthritis: a term, several disorders

Arthritis is a generic term which indicates several painful and chronic joint affections. The disorder appears various ways, according to the form in question, most current being the polyarthritis rhumatoïde and osteoarthritis.

The polyarthritis rhumatoïde (PR) touches approximately 1% of the population. She can occur at any age, but the women from 25 to 55 years are touched. One regards the polyarthritis rhumatoïde as an autoimmune disorder, because the organization attacks its articulations, while starting with the fabric which recovers them and protects them. It follows of the ignition and possibly the formation of a scar as the cartilage, the bone and the ligaments erode. One is still unaware of what starts this process, but research continues at present.

In general, this form of arthritis appears initially in the hands and the feet, then extends to the other articulations from the body. The ignition of the articulations causes the fabric formation of the cicatricial type which involves an articular stiffness. As arthritis progresses, the articulations can become curved and deformed, especially those of the fingers and the toes.

Here principal symptoms of the polyarthritis rhumatoïde:

tiredness,
a weight loss,
pains in the articulations, especially with the rising or after long periods of rest,
a puffiness of the articulations which lasts several hours,
a light fever,
nodules (small bumps) round and painless under the skin.
Osteoarthritis is the form of arthritis of which the majority among us think when we hear the word “arthritis”; and it is the most current form. Four people out of 10 are reached by it in North America. As it appears with ageing – the result of the wear of the articulation with the passing of years or of former lesions – one also calls it “ostéoarthrite”. With difference of form rhumatoïde, characterized by ignition and formation of tissues cicatricial, osteoarthritis attacks with cartilage (coating which deadens the shocks in the articulations), breaks up it and exposes the bones of the articulation whose friction involves pain then.

There exist two forms of osteoarthritis: the secondary primitive and it. Primitive osteoarthritis is caused by the “wear” of the articulation whereas the secondary form rises from former problems such as wounds or infections.

Osteoarthritis touches the men and the women of less than 55 years in equal proportions. After 55 years however, the women are more vulnerable there than the men. The majority of the people of more than 65 years present a certain form of arthritis, but only a third of them feels pain.

Osteoarthritis generally appears in the hands, the knees, the hips and the feet. The vertebral articulations can also be reached about it. The doctors believe that the osteoarthritis located in the vertebrae is related to a genetic factor, especially when the hands are also reached by it.

Here some of the symptoms of osteoarthritis:

a pain which seems to occur in deep fabrics of the articulation,
crackings coming from the articulations lasting a movement,
nodules or a puffiness on the fingers,
an articular stiffness, especially after the rest.
Among the other less current forms of arthritis, let us mention:

the psoriasic arthritis, which touches the people reached of psoriasis of the skin or the nails;
the drop, which generally reaches the men, results from the accumulation of uric acid around certain articulations, in particular in the big toe.