They can be arthritic disorders due to degeneration of the involved structure or inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, etc …
These pathologies include rheumatic diseases and can affect bones, joints and muscles but also internal organs (eg heart, brain , lungs, etc.), vessels and nerves.
There are different types but rheumatoid arthritis (AR) is the best known and is a chronic inflammatory, ankylosing and progressive polyarthritis with autoimmune pathogenesis and of unknown etiology, mainly due to synovial joints. It can cause deformation and pain that can lead to loss of joint function.
The condition can also present signs and symptoms in different organs. It differs from osteoarthritis because it initially affects the synovial membrane and not the cartilage, it affects less frequently and at a younger age compared to osteoarthritis; women are more affected (ratio 3: 1). It affects 1-2% of the population and the number of cases increases with age, in fact 5% of women over 55 are affected. The onset is observed mainly at the end of adolescence or between 40 and 50 years of life; a second peak is observed between 60 and 70 years. An early variant of AR is rheumatoid arthritis of childhood.
Treatment is directed towards the prevention of deformity together with pharmacological therapy. It is not Sara Luetchford’s field, unless the patient complains of a mechanical problem at a time when there is no acute inflammation.