 Learn about Arthritis and Rheumatic diseases
Rheumatism is a traditional and non-specific term used in the East and West to refer to a variety of conditions affecting the bones, joints, skin, heart, kidneys, lungs. This term is rapidly falling out of favour in the West today because modern medical science has discovered that most of these conditions have different aetiologies (causes) requiring very different treatments.
Rheumatism is a general name for muscular diseases or their symptoms. Every fifth adult in Finland suffers from rheumatic disease. Rheumatic diseases include inflammatory rheumatism, arthritis, a variety of back disorders, gout, oteoporosis and soft tissue rheumatism.
Arthritis is a broad term refers to inflammation of the joints, but doesn't say anything about the cause. Includes conditions like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, infective arthritis, gouty arthritis, etc.
1) Osteoarthritis (OA) This is primarily a 'wear and tear' condition affecting older people. Arises from overuse (e.g. marathon runners), previous injuries (football players), overweight, heredity.
A lot of older Asian women get OA of the knees while the Americans and Europeans get it in the hips. The pain is more mechanical than inflammatory. So you get pain in the later part of the day after a lot of walking and climbing stairs.
2) Inflammatory (Rheumatic) Arthritis This group comprises the various types of arthritis which are mainly inflammatory , not mechanical, in nature. They usually result from an auto-immune condition, which causes the body's immune system to go haywire and attack the joints and other parts of the body. E.g. rheumatoid arthritis (RA), SLE (skin, kidneys, joints, brain), psoriasis (skin, joints), ankylosing spondylitis (back, heart), gout (joints, skin, kidneys), rheumatic heart disease/fever (joints, heart, skin). All these conditions require different forms of treatment.
I'll talk a bit about Rheumatic Arthritis, the commonest condition in this group. Unlike Osteoarthritis, Rheumatic Arthritis can occur at any age and is usually hereditary (we now have a test for the Rheumatic Arthritis factor in the blood). Pain is usually in the early morning, worse when it's cold, and gets better with activity and use. That means an Rheumatic Arthritis sufferer suffers from morning stiffness and pain, but gets better in the afternoon when it's warmer and when he has moved around a bit.
In Asia, treatment is mainly through accupuncture, medicated plasters and ointments. With the vast arsenals of drugs and non-drugs alternative treatments available today, Rheumatic Arthritis can be controlled very well and the sufferer can actually lead a very active life. Many Osteoarthritis sufferers on the other hand may eventually require surgery.
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