Arthritis Details

Causes of rheumatoid arthritis

alan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:10:31 +0000

One of the major problems with rheumatoid arthritis is that unlike its close sister disease osteoarthritis, it does not have a clear cause. Therefore, it is hard to predict what caused the disease and makes preventative action harder.

Osteoarthritis is caused by the stress and wear that joints sustain based on continual use, however, rheumatoid arthritis is essentially caused by the immune system malfunctioning and starting to attack and destroy the joint linings causing them to get destroyed slowly over time. Therefore, when it strikes the body itself is responsible for causing pain and the gradual increase of joint pain.

Doctors still do not know what causes the immune system to start attacking the joints, but they do believe that there may a combination of environmental triggers and genetic factors that may play a role in the development of the disease. Other researchers believe they have proof that suggests that a virus or bacteria may jumpstart the growth and development of rheumatoid arthritis in a person that already has the genetic tendency towards the disease. Despite the suggestions, there is still not an isolated organism or infection that has been definitely linked to the development of the disease.

As rheumatoid arthritis becomes stronger the immune cells in the body start to identify a protein that is produced by the body as an intruder to the system. Unfortunately, the protein that is signaled to be intruder is also not known although there is a list of candidates that researchers are taking a closer look at. Some of the proteins that scientists are looking at are produced by the body in response to fungal, viral, or bacterial infections which is why they believe that an infection may be what triggers the arthritis in those that have genetic susceptibility.

On the other hand, the proteins that the immune system attacks may be linked to genetics or possibly could be prompted by other factors. Regardless of why the immune system chooses to attack the proteins, lymphocytes still attack the protein causing more cytokines to be produced which are what cause destruction of the joints as well as painful inflammation of the joints.

Eventually, the inflammation destroys joints in the body leading to permanent damage, loss of function in certain joints, chronic pain, and extreme fatigue which are the symptoms that most people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis face on a daily basis.

A walking stick can be very effective for arthritis sufferers

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:27:44 +0000

One of the common aids to walking is the use of a cane. This has been documented right back to the ancient Egyptians. More recently, a study by Brazilian researchers has found that the use of a cane helps to reduce the pain of patients suffering from osteoarthritis and also to improve the function of the suffering knee.

The study by Jamil Natour and his colleagues at the University of Sao Paulo found that the reported levels of pain were more than two points lower on a scale from 1 to 10 for patients that used a cane for two months. The score at the start of the study was an average of 5.63, and this fell to just 3.84 by the end of the study.

It has long been advised by the medical community that the use of canes can help people to walk, but this is one of the few studies that has put forward evidence to support the argument.

The study enrolled 64 people, predominantly women with an average age of 62, all of whom had suffered from osteoarthritis in the knee for more than six years. They were asked to rate the level of pain they felt in their knee, and all the answers fell between 3 and 7 on the 10-point scale.

As a control, half of the patients were not asked to change anything about their behaviour, while the other half were given canes and instructed how to use them effectively. After one month, tests were made to see what difference using a cane had made. Surprisingly, there was very little difference. Patients using the cane did not have an advantage in terms of the distance that they could walk, nor the energy used.

After two months there were significant improvements made. Questionnaires revealed that the cane users felt less pain than they had two months ago, and compared to the control group. In a physical test it was found that the cane users were able to walk significantly further, an average of 20% further. Non-cane users were able to walk just 2% further than prior to the study.

It was also found that the amount of oxygen that the cane users consumed went down from 1443 to 1118 L/min, and accordingly they produced less carbon dioxide, with results at 945 compared to the baseline result of 1204 l/min. Another interesting result was that the cane using patients felt able to lower their use of anti-inflammatory drugs, which would have numerous benefits.

The difference between the results after two months compared with the one month result implies that the use of the cane is a process of adaptation that is ongoing but massively beneficial, and greatly reduces the weight on the knees.

Hip joint pain arthritis physiotherapy

alan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:15:00 +0000

Hip joint pain is often the result of arthritis that forms in the hip area of the body. This can be aggravated even more from sporting or work activities that are conducted on a regular basis. In addition, those with movement or postural abnormalities may suffer from worse arthritis in the hip joint than other patients.

However, a new study shows that physiotherapy can be very helpful in treating this type of arthritis, as can understanding how these hip conditions occur so that continual damage to the hip joint area can be prevented, thus minimising the amount of pain that affects your life.

Hip joint problems are often the cause of other dissociated pains that are often neglected as a result of the fact that the body is not looked at as a whole, and instead only specific areas are focused on. For instance, pain that comes from the buttock region, lumbar spine, lower back, and sometimes even the knee joint can all be the result of hip-joint problems.

Therefore, if the hip joint is not considered for treatment then the other associated pains will never be healed, even with specific focus on the trouble areas. This is why more pathological considerations must be made in designing courses of therapy for patients.

One of the main causes of hip ,joint problems is osteoarthritis which mostly affects those over the age of sixty years and is usually suffered in conjunction with joint degeneration. It is estimated that about 5% of the population that are over the age of sixty suffers from this type of arthritis.

Many people find that the stiffness after rest is worse than the actual physical pain as the pain can be managed, but the general feeling of stiffness is something that must simply be dealt with on a regular basis, impeding daily activities.

Arthritic knee pain not helped by surgery

alan — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:13:32 +0000

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week has revealed that knee surgery designed to help relieve sufferers from arthritic pain in their knees offers no more relief from pain than other traditional physical therapies or drug therapy.

The study was conducted at the University of Western Ontario and is likely to reduce the amount of doctors that choose to use arthroscopic surgery on the knees in an effort to relieve the amount of arthritic pain in the knee joint now that the surgery has been found to be ineffectual for most patients.

Arthroscopic surgery includes the use of a small tube that has a tiny camera on the end of it that is placed through a small incision in the leg and deep into the knee joint. Doctors then can make use of the images that the camera displays in an effort to repair and closely examine the damage that has been done to the joint.

After they assess a course of action they use another small incision near the joint site in order to insert their surgical instruments and make repairs as they see fit. The common thought among surgeons has been that by smoothing out cartilage in the joint and removing any excess fluids pain would be reduced.

However, the study performed at the University discovered that two years after the surgery most patients who choose knee surgery were suffering again from chronic joint pain in the knee from arthritis, which is the same result that those who used physical and drug therapy found.

Therefore, surgery may not be the best answer for those suffering from arthritis in the knee joints, as the solution is only temporary and involves a reasonably long recovery time, only to be met with the same diagnosis again down the line.

Rheumatoid arthritis solution could be technical

alan — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:11:08 +0000

The solution to treating rheumatoid arthritis could just as well be technical, according to a new project that is being conducted by the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, alongside the Western Health and Social Care Trust. The new project takes a close look at how a glove may actually be the answer to figuring out the best treatment for patients that suffers from the debilitating disease.

It is estimated that about 400,000 adults suffer from rheumatoid arthritis in the UK alone, with around 20,000 new cases diagnosed every year. The condition is a painful and disabling condition that limits the amount of movement in the knee, finger, elbow, and wrist joints.

The project is testing a data glove that was created by researchers at C-TRIC and the University of Ulster that has sensitive movement sensors inside of it that ‘speak’ to software on a computer. This helps to diagnose a specific treatment plan for each patient, a nd helps to narrow down the cause of their problem quickly and select the best course of action.

One in seven patients that are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis will be forced to quit their jobs and another four out of every ten will lose their jobs after five years due to complications from this severe form of arthritis.

The data glove is able to conduct precise hand measurements that can then be used to offer a better diagnosis and prognosis to each patient as the recovery assessment can be made to be specific to each hand.

This way, a patient can receive specialised care in a very time and cost efficient manner without the use of many tests or exams. The new data gloves are able to measure not only joint movements, but due to sensors can also measure swollen joints in the hand and deformities that previously only x-rays would be able to pick up.

Etawanlisepriyong beneficial for treating arthritis pain

admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:52:23 +0000

Etawanlisepriyong beneficial for treating arthritis pain

It has been discovered by the Dept. of Medical Science that Thaowan Prieng, the Thai wooden nest that is known in English as Etawanlisepriyong, is an effective treatment for pain. The nest extracts pain in a similar way to well known pain relievers Naposene and Diclofenic, but without the side effects, and the Thai Pharmaceutical Organisation is now proceeding with the manufacture of it.

Dr Jackrapan Thummasak is the general director of the Dept. of Medical Science, ministry of Health, and he has said that the clinical study into the effectiveness and side effects of Etawanlisepriyong extract was conducted jointly between the Wangnamyen Hospital in Sa-kaew province and the Dept. of Medical Science on 70 patients who suffered back pain.

This group was split in two, with one group receiving 200mg of Etawanlisepriyong three times a day for a week, and the other group receiving 25mg of Diclofenic three times a day for a week. The results showed that both groups has significant pain reduction by the third and seventh day, and those that received the Etawanlisepriyong extract had a significantly reduced amount of white blood cells by day 7 and no side effects.

Dr. Jackrapan stated that the Department of Medical Science together with Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, conducted a study of the efficacy and safety of the Etawanlisepriyong extract in treatment of symptoms of 125 osteoarthritis sufferers. These patients were also separated into two groups.

The first group received 250 mg of Naproxen twice a day for four weeks, and the second group 400 mg of Etawanlisepriyong extract twice a day for four weeks. The result of study found that both Naproxen and Etawanlisepriyong are safe and effective. There were no significant differences between the two groups of patients, and 80% of the total test sample was satisfied with their treatments.

Mrs. Malee Banjob, Director of the Institute of Herbs, Department of Medical Science, said that from testing the safety and effectiveness of the Etawanlisepriyong extract on the immune system of 59 healthy volunteers who took one capsule (200 mg) of Etawanlisepriyong extract twice daily, morning-evening, for 2 months, it was found that all the volunteers showed no side effects.

The Department of Medical Science has now transferred the technology and quality control for the extraction of Etawanlisepriyong essence to the Pharmaceutical Organization in order to produce forms of this medicine and sell them wholesale, especially to hospitals that treat elderly patients.