Arthritis - Types, Causes, Symptoms and Treatment in Homeoapthy

 

What is Arthritis?

Arthritis means joint inflammation which can affect one or more joints causing pain and stiffness that can worsen with age. There are around 200 types of arthritis, with different causes affecting joints, the tissues that surround the joint and other connective tissue. 

Rheumatic conditions tend to involve pain, aching, stiffness, and swelling in and around one or more joints. The symptoms can develop gradually or suddenly. Certain rheumatic conditions can also involve the immune system and various internal organs of the body.

Arthritis is more common among adults aged 65 years or older, but it can affect people of all ages, including children.

What are the Types of Arthritis?

There are around 200 types of arthritis, or musculoskeletal conditions. These are split into seven main groups:

• Inflammatory arthritis
• Degenerative or mechanical arthritis
• Soft tissue musculoskeletal pain
• Back pain
• Connective tissue disease
• Infectious arthritis
• Metabolic arthritis

What are the most common Types of Arthritis?

The most common types are:

• Osteoarthritis (OA)
• Gout
• Fibromyalgia 
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

What Causes Arthritis?

The causes vary according to the type or form of arthritis.

Possible causes may include:

• Injury, leading to degenerative arthritis
• Abnormal metabolism, leading to gout and pseudo gout
• Inheritance, such as in osteoarthritis
• Infections, such as in the arthritis of Lyme disease
• Immune system dysfunction, such as in RA and SLE

Some people may be genetically more likely to develop certain arthritic conditions. 

Additional factors, such as previous injury, infection, smoking and physically demanding occupations, can interact with genes to further increase the risk of arthritis.

What are Risk factors for arthritis?

Non-modifiable arthritis risk factors:

Age: the risk of developing most types of arthritis increases with age.

Gender: most types of arthritis are more common in females. Gout is more common in males than females.

Genetic factors: specific genes are associated with a higher risk of certain types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and ankylosing spondylitis.

Modifiable arthritis risk factors:

Overweight and obesity: excess weight can contribute to both the onset and progression of knee osteoarthritis.

Joint injuries: damage to a joint can contribute to the development of osteoarthritis in that joint.

Infection: many microbial agents can infect joints and trigger the development of various forms of arthritis.

Occupation: certain occupations that involve repetitive knee bending and squatting are associated with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Comorbidities:

High blood pressure is associated with heart disease, the most common comorbidity among adults with arthritis.

Smoking is associated with chronic respiratory conditions, the second most common comorbidity among adults with arthritis.

What is Osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is caused by a reduction in the normal amount of cartilage tissue through wear and tear throughout life. It occurs when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears down over time and with age.

Osteoarthritis is a common degenerative joint disease that affects the cartilage, joint lining and ligaments, and underlying bone of a joint.

The breakdown of these tissues eventually leads to pain and joint stiffness.

The joints most often affected by osteoarthritis are those that get heavy use, such as hips, knees, hands, the spine, the base of the thumb, and the big toe joint.

What is Gout?

Gout is a rheumatic disease that happens when uric acid crystals, or monosodium urate, form in body tissues and fluids. It happens when the body produces too much uric acid or does not excrete enough uric acid.

Gout causes agonizing pain in the joint, with the area becoming red, hot and swollen.

Acute gout normally appears as a severely red, hot, and swollen joint and severe pain.

Risk factors include:

• Overweight or obesity
• Hypertension
• Alcohol intake
• Use of diuretics
• Meat and seafood rich diet
• Some common medicines
• Poor kidney function

Long periods of remission are possible, followed by flares lasting from days to weeks. Sometimes it can be chronic. Recurrent attacks of acute gout can lead to a degenerative form of chronic arthritis called gouty arthritis.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.

Fibromyalgia may trigger the following symptoms:

• Widespread pain, often with specific tender points
• Sleep disturbance
• Fatigue
• Psychological stress
• Morning stiffness
• Tingling or numbness in hands and feet
• Headaches, including migraines
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Problems with thinking and memory, sometimes called “fibro fog”
• Painful menstrual periods and other pain syndromes

Fibromyalgia is more common in females.

What is Rheumatoid arthritis?

RA is a systemic disease, so it usually affects the joints on both sides of the body equally. The joints of the wrists, fingers, knees, feet and ankles are the most commonly affected.

Joint symptoms may include:

• Morning stiffness, lasting more than 1 hour
• Pain, often in the same joints on both sides of the body
• Loss of range of motion of joints, possibly with deformity

Other symptoms include:

• Chest pain when breathing in, due to pleurisy
• Dry eyes and mouth, if Sjögren’s syndrome is present
• Eye burning, itching, and discharge
• Nodules under the skin, usually a sign of more severe disease
• Numbness, tingling, or burning in the hands and feet
• Sleep difficulties

How Homeopathy treats Arthritis?

• Homeopathy does not seek to suppress or palliate your symptoms but treats to cure. 
• Homeopathy believes in identifying and rectifying the root cause. 
• Homeopathy also believes that symptoms are indicators of the body’s attempt to remain disease free. There are several homeopathic medicines which can be used to reverse the symptoms of arthritis effectively.
• Homeopathy is a Medical science based on the well proven fact that your body has its own inherent power to heal. A healthy body is like a perfect machine where every part and organ of the body works in harmony.
• At times when there is some mental stress or shock and/or some physical affliction such as an infection or injury, this disturbs the harmony or the functioning of the body. This instability and imbalance is expressed in the form of signs and symptoms of a disease.
• In internal disease processes, when the disrupting cause is stronger, the disturbance caused to the body is significant and so the body alone cannot manage to fight it on its own. This is when sickness shows up in the form of sign and symptoms.
• Homeopathy treats you as an individual and not just your affected or diseased parts. Homeopathy does not treat on the name of the disease but it looks for the root of the disease. Thus when the cause is removed from the body, the disease automatically goes away completely.
• This is when, your body needs an external force which will help it recover and this is where Homeopathy helps. It strengthens the immune system (your body’s disease fighting ability) and it aids the system to fight back and helps in faster recovery.
• Homeopathy is works on the principle that your body constantly makes effort to uphold and re-establish the internal strength. When the body is in a state of sickness, Homeopathic medicines gently provide stimulus to the immune system of your body and aids in fighting the disease in your body efficiently.

Visit us @ https://drmaryhomoeopathy.com/