Life with Arthritis Disorders

Arthritis is a very painful problem that affects a large percent of the earth’s population. But what do we actually know about arthritis disorders that we will probably end up with at some point in our lives? I hope this article helps provide some important data about this painful condition.

Life with Arthritis: Joints
Arthritis usually centers around the joints in your bones. It makes bending and any movements subtle and extreme, highly painful. Two areas are helpful in the diagnosis…joint pattern and the presence or absence of extra articular manifestations.

Your doctor will need to answer three specific questions in order to determine the actual diagnosis.
• Is there inflammation in the joints?
• Out of all the joints of the body how many are actually involved?
• What specific joints are affected?

If inflammation is present the chances are that the diagnosis will come back rheumatoid arthritis-systemic lupus-gout. If inflammation is absent chances are you have Osteoarthritis.

If the number of joints involved are monarticular the diagnosis will most likely be gout-trauma, septic arthritis or lyme disease. However, if two through four joints are involved (oligoarticular) then this means one of the following is present: rewriter disease, psoriatic arthritis, or inflammatory bowel disease. If more than five joints are affected (polyarticular) means that rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus is most likely present.

The actual joint involvement of the distal interphalangeal would lead to the conclusion of osteoarthritis and symptomatic arthritis but not necessarily rheumatoid arthritis. Metacarpophalangeal, meaning your wrists, would suggest rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus but not Osteoarthritis. If the first metatarsalphalangeal is involved this would show a diagnosis of gout and Osteoarthritis.