Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that causes joint pain on the wrists, fingers, ankles, and toes. These types of symptoms aren’t common they are caused by a chronic inflammation of the synovial membrane; also known as Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is one of the autoimmune diseases that cause severe chronic joint pain which can occur on every joint all over the body. If the patient does not receive the right treatment, it might eventually cause long-term effects such as degenerative joint disease, osteoporosis, joint deformity, and disability.
The Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis
The exact cause of Rheumatoid arthritis remains unknown. However, there are risk factors that lead to this disease such as:
- Genetic inheritance
- Viral or Bacterial infection
- Smoking cigarette
- Other environment-related factors
Rheumatoid Arthritis’s Symptoms
- The disease usually occurs on women more than men around 8/1, and it could be found on people aged over teenage years.
- Joint pain and chronic joint inflammation especially on fingers and wrist joints for over 6 weeks.
- In severe cases, the patients might have inflamed joint pain on the joints all over the body which includes the joints of the shoulders,
elbows, hips, knees, ankles, and toes. - Red swollen joints
- Joint stiffness
- In severe cases, the patient might have fever, muscle pain, exhaustion, less appetite, and weight loss alternatively.
Diagnosis and Treatments
Basically, the doctor will diagnose by checking the medical report, physical examination, x-ray, and blood tests to check the rheumatoid and the rheumatoid immunodeficiency. After the diagnosis, the patients need to receive the right treatment. The purpose of the treatment is to treat the disease, increase the quality of life so that the patients can work and spend their life back to normal, as well as reduce the risk of disabilities. The treatment methods are as follows:
- Medication Therapy: this method is including both consuming and injection types of medication. This type of treatment could reduce the inflammation, as well as control the symptoms and prevent long-term effects.
- Physical Therapy: This type of treatment will alternate with exercise in order to maintain joint flexibility.
- Surgical Treatment: This type of surgical treatment refers to total joint replacement such as knee joint replacement and hip joint replacement. This procedure is recommended for the patients whose joints were damaged. This procedure could reduce the pain and fix the disabilities.
However, Rheumatoid Arthritis is a disease that has no cure. Even though the symptoms were relieved, it could reoccur. Thus, the patient should monitor the symptoms and take the medicine continuously in order to prevent the recurrence of the disease. For an effective treatment, the patient should be diagnoses and treated during the early stage of the disease, especially during the very first year. Hence, if you have joint pain or red swollen joints, you should go to see the doctor for proper diagnosis and to receive the right treatment as soon as possible.
For more information :
Vejthani Hospital, Medicine Center 1st Floor
Phone : +66 (0) 2734-0000 ext. 2200, 2204
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