Archive for February, 2009


What Is Arthritis?

of pain

The number of Americans with arthritis increased 60% from 1997 to 2002, encompassing over 70 million people. While an aging population warrants the increasingly high number of sufferers, doctors say that getting treatment early can help relieve many of the symptoms, even though no cure currently exists. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis but the basic premise is that they all involve joint inflammation.

How do you know if you have arthritis? While symptoms and severity vary from person to person, the most common symptoms are: pain, swelling, stiffness, tenderness, redness and warmth. Osteoarthritis is characterized by progressive stiffness without swelling, chills or fever. Rheumatoid arthritis is the painful swelling, inflammation and stiffness in the fingers, arms, legs and wrists, which are prevalent on both sides of the body and are usually worse in the morning. Children with on-off fever, loss of appetite, weight loss and a blotchy rash on the arms and legs might have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. You should call the doctor if symptoms appear suddenly, or if they are accompanied by a fever or rash.

The most common types of arthritis are: osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and systemic lupus erythematosus. Osteoporosis primarily affects the elderly because it is a degenerative disease resulting from a gradual loss of cartilage. As a result, bones and joints in the knees, hips, and spine rub together, causing pain and muscle/nerve damage. Rheumatoid arthritis primarily affects those between 25 and 55 years of age and is characterized by a burning, stiff sensation in the hands, knuckles, arms, legs and feet. Fibromyalgia is a widespread pain disorder that never really goes away and is believed to be a malfunctioning of the nervous system. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) sufferers have fevers, fatigue, myalgias, joint pains and malaise. Approximately 30% of those with SLE also exhibit skin lesions and 10% suffer psychosis or seizures. While symptoms range from on-off pain to severe degenerative disease, this isn’t something that should just be “suffered through.”

Research has shown that early treatment prevents many arthritis sufferers from becoming deformed, long-term disabled or overwhelmed with pain. Treatment includes disease modifying drugs (DMARDs like Methotrexate, Azulfidine or Arava), NSAIDs and corticosteroids. While a complete cure isn’t yet available, these drugs help manage the pain symptoms and restore mobility. Physical therapy can give additional assistance for pain management as well.

Coping With Fibromyalgia

Joint agony and fatigue are the common indicators of Fibromyalgia. Virtually 3.7 million Yankees are affected by the illness, most of who are ladies. Most of us are ignorant of these symptoms and have a tendency to ignore symptoms in patients as mental complaints. Usually the discomfort is real and is caused due to chronic neurological dysfunction. The symptoms can change in different patients but the agony is mostly the same. Fibromyalgia causes agony in the joints and other parts of the body and is largely a muscular discomfort in the joints. It causes centralized discomfort in the spinal chord and brain, which can frequently be misinterpreted.

The joints may feel inflamed and the skin - tender. This muscular agony causes assorted other symptoms in the person. Depression, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, intense mood swings, twitchy sleeping are a few of the consequences of Fibromyalgia. The agony felt in Fibromyalgia is in particular points called trigger points. It can be the neck, spinal chord, higher back, knees, elbows, shoulders and so on. The areas surrounding this discomfort can feel tender and occasionally a burning sensation. Memory loss or memory mist is common in these patients and so are mood swings. Their levels of stress can lead to bugged sleep patterns and often they are really sensitive to even the smallest touch, light and temperature variations. Migraines are a frequent complaint in these individuals. Fibromyalgia is a condition appearing more in ladies than men and the explanation for this isn’t certain. Diagnosing Fibromyalgia is hard as the fibromyalgia symptoms are sundry. It can only be detected by the chronic and determined pain in the joints and the topical symptoms.

Ladies who suffer from Fibromyalgia have low levels of progesterone, which helps to balance the estrogen levels in ladies. This is an example of the most important reasons there are far more ladies suffering than men. Progesterone creams can help cut back the discomfort to a certain extent in ladies. This may be applied in the parts where they feel the agony and can be taken orally as well which can help revive sleep in the patients. Learning to grasp your body can help ladies cope better with the symptoms. The body should be kept toasty to keep the muscles supple.

Eating a healthful diet and regular exercises can help relive the discomfort make the patient progress towards a cure. Reduce stress and tension with the assistance of relations as well as take to therapies and meditations to chill and de-stress. In truth a mix of certain therapies together with prescribed medicine works best in treatment of Fibromyalgia in girls.

Joining support groups where you would find other girls with similar symptoms can help share your issues and find a cure. You’ll be ready to share some of your experiences and get assistance from the other ladies as to a way to go about coping with the symptoms. Girls need lots of emotional support, which can be supplied by the immediate loved ones. Taking the difficulty to grasp their symptoms will help you show compassion and respect their wants. Helping these patients by developing a calm and calm home atmosphere can go a ways in helping them cope with the symptoms. Girls have a tendency to get more irritable due to the consistent agony and become dysfunctional in each day routines.

This might make them become depressed and cause further anxiety. Be accommodating and patient towards them, to help relieve some of the consistent agony that they experience. Explicit care can have an excellent effect on ladies and help them cope with the Fibromyalgia.