There over a hundred rheumatic diseases in existence.

Rheumatic diseases are known by inflammation that affects the linking or supporting structures of the body — most especially the joints, but also sometimes the tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles. Other Rheumatic Diseases may even affect the organs.

These diseases can ultimately kill the functions in those body parts.

Rheumatic diseases include but limited to arthritis, which literally means “joint inflammation” and itself encompasses more than 100 different disorders. Rheumatic diseases that primarily affect the spine are known as spondyloarthropathies.

For the record, rheumatic diseases affect more than 46 million Americans, which includes 294,000 children, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

Types of Rheumatic Diseases

A number of the most common rheumatic diseases include:

• Osteoarthritis, the most dominant type of arthritis, that primarily affects and destroys cartilage, the soft tissue that cushions the ends of bones within joints
• Rheumatoid arthritis, this is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the synovium, a soft tissue that lines the joints, leading to inflammation
• Fibromyalgia, a chronic condition marked by tender points and localized pain throughout the musculoskeletal system
• Systemic lupus erythematosus, or simply lupus, an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation in numerous parts of the body, including the joints, skin, kidneys, blood, lungs, heart, and brain
• Gout, a type of arthritis that develops when needle-like crystals of uric acid deposit in the joints, most often those of the big toe
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, the most common form of arthritis in children, which may be accompanied by fevers and rashes
• Infectious arthritis, or arthritis that’s caused by an infection, such as Lyme disease or Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria behind gonorrhea
• Psoriatic arthritis, a type of arthritis (and also considered a spondlyoarthropathy) that affects the fingers and toes and is associated with the skin disease psoriasis
• Polymyositis, which affects the muscles and can affect the entire body
• Bursitis, an inflammation of the bursas small fluid-filled sacs that reduce friction between bones
• Ankylosing spondylitis, the most common spondyloarthropathy, which may affect the hips, shoulders, and knees, in addition to the spine
• Reactive arthritis, or Reiter’s syndrome, a spondlyoarthropathy that develops after an infection of the urinary tract, bowels, or other organs
• Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune rheumatic disease that leads to a thickening and tightening of the skin and inflammation and scarring in various other parts of the body, including the blood vessels, joints, and certain organs
• Polymyalgia rheumatica, which causes pain and stiffness in tendons, muscles, ligaments, and tissues around joints

Risk Factors and Causes Of Rheumatic Disease

Professionals believe rheumatic diseases are caused by a combination of genes and environmental factors. In general, having certain gene variants can increase a person’s susceptibility to rheumatic diseases, and factors in the environment may trigger the onset of the disease.

For instance, studies suggest that people with certain variations of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes — which help control immune responses — have a higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. In these people, the disease may develop due to some kind of triggering event, such as hormonal spikes, infections from bacteria or viruses, or obesity.

Similarly, an inherited cartilage weakness combined with excessive joint stress may play a role in the development of osteoarthritis.

Various factors can put you at greater risk for developing one or more rheumatic diseases. For example:

• Osteoarthritis is more common in older adults than younger adults
• Women are far more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, fibromyalgia, and lupus
• Gout and spondyloarthropathies are more common in men
• Lupus most often affects African-Americans and Hispanics
• Obesity and smoking increases your risk for a number of rheumatic diseases
• Dietary factors may increase or decrease your risk for certain rheumatic diseases — gout is associated with diets high in purines, which are found in various types of meat

Symptoms Of Rheumatic Disease

The benchmark of these rheumatic diseases is inflammation.

For arthritis, inflammation basically causes one or more symptoms in the joints, including:

• Pain
• Stiffness, especially in the morning
• Swelling
• Warmth and redness
• Tenderness
• Difficulty using the joint normally

Rheumatic diseases may produce a wide variety of other symptoms, such as:

• Fatigue
• Eye inflammation or infections
• Rashes and sores
• Pain in the neck, spine, or back
• Difficulty taking a deep breath
• Muscle pain

The post What Are Rheumatic Diseases? appeared first on Shzboxtoday.