Rheumatoid arthritis

Definition:

Arthritis

Osteosarthritis affects up to 80 percent of people over 50. Severe osteoarthritis affects three times as many women as men. Symptoms range from mild pain, stiffness of one or more joints, and swelling and creaking to total loss of joint function, disrupting walking, dressing, and even sleep. Muscles may waste away around an arthritic joint, and the bones can change shape. Osteoarthritis tends to affect large weight-bearing joints, such as hips and knees, as well as small joints in the feet, hands, fingers, neck, and lower back. Symptoms may be more severe than actual physical damage.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease which causes chronic inflammation of the joints, the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease.

Mr Stefan Chmelik on Rheumatoid arthritis)

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease process that produces inflammation causing joint pain and erodes the joints. Definitive diagnosis is through blood tests, but in reality it is not uncommon to see people who are RF negative, but who have all the symptoms of Rheumatoid arthritis.

Conventional treatment is mostly with anti-inflammatory or steroid drugs, which can have side effects when used long term.

This is a complex, difficult and destructive disease, with different causes, each of which must be clearly identified for treatment to be helpful. Whatever the direct cause, it is always wise to work with your immune system as this is an autoimmune disorder, and there are a number of tried and tested ways of doing that. Chinese Medicine successfully uses herbal formula for the immune system, diet can be an important factor and visualisation and meditation have been shown to have a beneficial effect. Acupuncture is helpful for joint pain.

My colleague Dr Damien Downing also specialises in genomics and environmental medicine, which can trace problems at genetic a level or those due to toxic exposure.