Rheumatoid arthritis is a very complex disease that affects the connective tissues and gradually destroys the joints. Not only adult patients, but also children can suffer from it. That is why the therapy of the disease should begin immediately, chronic forms of this pathology should not be allowed.
What is this?
Popularly, this pathology is known as joint rheumatism, which has an infectious-allergic nature. Mostly teenagers suffer from this disease. This disease is considered a pathology of the young. Adults and the elderly suffer from it much less frequently. Unlike other forms of this disease, rheumatoid arthritis is reversible, that is, with timely treatment, the pathology can be completely cured. But if you leave it unattended, then over time, complications such as heart disease or endomyocarditis begin to develop. This disease most often appears in young patients no younger than six years old and no older than sixteen.
Features of the disease
This diagnosis has spread in European countries andin the USA. They are much less likely to suffer from it in Asian countries, and in African countries such a pathology does not occur at all.
Modern experts have already established the exact causes of this disease. This is primarily transferred earlier rheumatism, provoked by influenza, pharyngitis, sinusitis or tonsillitis. As for the child, even a banal cold, hypothermia, malnutrition, or emotional or physical overwork can provoke a pathology.
Failures in the immune system occur due to infectious foci. This is what causes pathology. Also, its appearance may be preceded by the ingestion of group A beta-hemolytic streptococci into the weakened body, due to which tonsillitis occurs. Therefore, this disease should not be ignored, but self-medication can be very dangerous.
An equally common factor in the development of rheumatoid arthritis in children are disorders of the autonomic nervous system.
Signs of disease
The process of pathology is quite complicated. The toxins of this disease have a bad effect on the state of the body, which is why the immune system produces antibodies that attack its own tissues, which are considered foreign. The result of such a reaction is an inflammatory process that occurs in the joints, which appears only a few weeks after the infection.
Further, the disease begins to develop very quickly, affecting primarily large joints (most often the knee joint). Appears acutepain, swelling that occurs due to the accumulation of inflammatory fluid, as well as redness of the skin around the diseased joint, deformed due to the destruction of cartilage tissue, body temperature rises. A characteristic symptom of rheumatoid arthritis is its rapid spread. Pathology quickly passes from one joint to another, paired, resulting in polyarthritis. Sometimes with such a movement, pain in the first joint may disappear. This change of localization can occur on average every two to three days. A person experiences severe pain even with minimal mobility.
Forecast
In total, rheumatoid arthritis lasts no more than three weeks. Upon reaching the highest point in the development of the disease, acute inflammation of the joints disappears. Movements become free, and their amplitude is restored, while the pain disappears and passes to other joints. But in the end, it goes away completely even in the absence of any treatment.
This feature is the insidiousness of this disease, since subsequently this pathology affects both the outer and inner shells of the heart. The course of the disease can be reduced to several days if modern methods of treatment are used.
The presence of the above signs allows you to distinguish between rheumatic and rheumatoid arthritis. The second is characterized by an autoimmune nature.
Types of pathology
This disease is divided into types depending on the speed of the disease.
Most often any one moderatelya pronounced symptom is characteristic of a protracted form of rheumatoid arthritis. Its treatment is very long and takes about six months.
In the event that, during the development of pathology, its symptoms are practically absent, there is a latent form of the disease. It is impossible to detect it by any diagnostic method. Only after the heart disease has formed, the disease itself is revealed.
The undulating course of the disease is characteristic of a continuously relapsing type of pathology. There are bright exacerbations and incomplete remissions, as well as progressive ailments of many organs. For children, this process is very unfavorable due to frequent cases of valvular heart disease.
Acute rheumatoid arthritis develops quickly, and its symptoms are very intense, affect the internal organs and are highly intoxicated. This species has a rather complex pathogenesis, which requires a quick response and intensive treatment. Only then can a favorable prognosis be expected. Otherwise, belated therapy will not have time to give the expected effect.
A subacute type of pathology arises and develops much more slowly. In children, its clinical signs are not so pronounced.
Forms and manifestations of the disease
- Rheumatic polyarthritis is characterized by migratory pain and swelling in large joints or polyarthralgia in small ones. This form in itself is not dangerous, since no changes occur in the joints. But it should be remembered that the cause of the pathology wasrheumatic process due to infection. And if left untreated, her heart is in danger.
- Almost all patients develop an organ lesion called rheumatic heart disease. With it, both each shell individually, and all of them together can suffer. The acute onset of this form of the disease accompanies polyarthritis, and the symptoms of a protracted course are not so diverse. The only symptom here is heart failure.
- In the primary pathological process, myocarditis does not have a bright clinical picture and a severe course. The patient notes discomfort or tolerable pain in the region of the heart, and with a slight physical exertion, a slight shortness of breath or tachycardia appears. In the future, recurrent myocarditis is characterized by bright heart pain and extrasystole. Very often, with this form, the disease progresses, disrupting blood circulation and reducing myocardial contractility.
- The most unfavorable form of the disease is endocarditis, which has such varieties as valvular, parietal and chordal. The first of these, called valvulitis, causes the most trouble for both the sick person and the doctor. This variety affects the valvular apparatus of the heart. The aortic and mitral valves are most often affected, and the tricuspid valves are much less common.
- Associated with acute rheumatic fever, pericarditis has mild symptoms, so it is rarely detected, but quite often develops. Symptoms of this type disappear quickly and respond well to treatment.
If you miss a clear picture of the active process at the first stage, then in the future the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis can be significantly complicated due to the formation of heart disease, impaired blood circulation and the transition of the pathology to a chronic relapsing course.
Nervous system damage
In most cases, this pathology provokes severe damage to the heart. But this disease, although to a lesser extent, can adversely affect the nervous system. These changes are especially common in girls.
There may be erratic violent muscle movements occurring anywhere. This phenomenon is called choreic hyperkinesis.
The child becomes difficult to control his movements, he can not do anything on his own (stand still or walk).
With general muscular dystonia, hypotension of already flabby muscles predominates. Often, against the background of this process, vegetative-vascular dystonia appears.
As a result of psychopathological disorders, emotional instability appears, provoked precisely by the rheumatic process, and not by a lack of education or transitional age.
Dependence of pathology on age and gender
In children of primary school age of both sexes, the pathological process usually begins acutely and has a large number of symptoms. In adolescence, girls are more likely to suffer from this disease. The process begins with slowly developing rheumatic heart disease. Against this background, heart disease occurs, and the disease itself becomes protracted andrecurrent.
Adult boys constitute a special group of patients with this disease. It is characterized by an acute onset and well-defined symptoms. In most cases, timely therapy guarantees a complete recovery, but about 10% of young people still have a heart disease formed against the background of pathology.
Treatment for the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis will not be needed for adults, since they practically do not suffer from it. But at the same time, there are frequent cases of the development of recurrent rheumatic heart disease (mainly in women). Heart disease has a protracted and progressive nature, and more than ten years later, combined and associated heart defects occur.
Preventive measures, specialist supervision and adequate treatment can improve the quality of life and save the situation.
Rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: differences
Despite the general articular syndrome, these are different diseases with their own signs and causes. The first is considered a mild pathology, passing without a trace with timely therapy. Rheumatoid arthritis is considered an autoimmune disease that leads to muscle atrophy and joint deformity, as well as affecting internal organs.
Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis is currently unknown. This pathology manifests itself gradually, slowly, without an acute onset. The pains are of a moderate chronic nature and first affect the small joints. Soon a characteristic feature of the rheumatoid process appears - deformationjoints.
But the main difference between rheumatic and rheumatoid arthritis is that compared to the first, the outcome of the second disease is less favorable.
Diagnosis of rheumatic disease
First of all, the specialist collects an anamnesis, focusing on recent infections. Further, in order to identify the symptoms of the process, he conducts an examination. An extensive blood test plays an important role in the diagnosis of pathology.
Also, primary measures include material from the pharynx for the presence of streptococcus, an electrocardiogram. In severe cases of the disease in children and young people, an X-ray examination is prescribed to diagnose changes. But at the first attack, it does not give much information. Ultrasound will help to ascertain the absence or presence of a defect.
Drug therapy
It usually includes anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and specific antirheumatic drugs. To suppress streptococcus, a penicillin group of antibiotics is needed, and along with them, in order to prevent dysbacteriosis, probiotic preparations are needed. A course of vitamins selected by a specialist will help strengthen the body and increase immunity.
Physiotherapy
Has contraindications during the acute period and is used only after it. These activities improve blood circulation, have a warming effect and restore normal nutrition to the tissue of the joints.
Physiotherapeutic procedures are the final therapeutic course, and it is better to carry them out in a sanatoriumspa treatment.
How to treat rheumatoid arthritis with folk remedies?
They can be quite effective in the treatment of such a pathology. Folk remedies can eliminate pain and alleviate the general condition of the patient, but they should not be used on their own.
Curry or turmeric can be added to milk and food. And lubricate the affected joints with celandine. Every day before going to bed, you can apply compresses from propolis or chamomile decoction.
