There are two broad categories of arthritis, inflammatory and osteoarthritis, and they all have individual sub features. So rheumatoid arthritis has particular features. It affects the small joints of the hands. For example, gout may affect peripheral joints, but it can have other distributions too.
Annulene spondylitis may affect the back and some peripheral joints, and osteoarthritis tends to affect more the large joints, but also the small joints in the tips of the fingers. They can be interchangeable. So osteoarthritis can have inflammatory component and rheumatoid arthritis can go on to have osteoarthritis changes. Fortunately, there are very clearly defined ways of assessing patients, both clinically and in terms of different investigations, to determine the form and type of arthritis individual has.
And we also have very many effective treatments which can be tailored to that individual to help reduce the symptoms or to get them into remission, and in some cases into drug free remission. Arthritis sometimes may have no symptoms and we have some clues in the blood test and other investigations that we might be doing.
But often the cardinal symptoms are pain and swelling, stiffness and difficulty with movement or function and disability generally. There can also be systemic features, so not the joints, but other parts of the body might be affected, such as lungs or kidneys or muscles. The key features as far as the joints are concerned is pain and swelling.
If there is any swelling, that’s a very high probability of inflammation or infection or something significant with the joint and the individual should be assessed. It really should be looked at as a medical emergency, because having any symptoms leads to loss of function, which then takes huge amount of effort to recover and to improve. So it’s best to prevent progression and get timely treatment.
We’re going to be covering treatment later on, but if we delay treatment, the conditions are less responsive and may not be as effective. And so it’s really important that the treatment is carried out as early as possible with the appropriate drugs. Fortunately, there are several different treatment approaches in arthritis that have been proven to be effective.
We can broadly categorize them into nondrug drug and surgical. The aim of treatment should be to eradicate symptoms and to restore function. And if we treat early and if we treat appropriately, we should be able to achieve that in majority of the cases.
And in some cases we’re even able to achieve drug free remission. Drug free and symptom free, and restore the individual back to their former health. The range of options that we might have in broad category, there’s non drugs such as nutrition, exercise, physiotherapy of the drug treatment.
There are a number of different agents and they can be administered in a range of different ways such as tablets, creams, infusions or injections into a given joint. And after surgical approaches it may be keyhole surgery or open joint surgery.
All of these treatments used appropriately can help significantly or fully control symptoms and restore function and hopefully prevent progression of the condition. Our understanding of arthritis and the risk factors has improved significantly.
There are a number of genetic factors that cannot be changed, but there are also some lifestyle factors that can be altered and the risk of developing arthritis reduced, such as smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise can have a role to play.
But it’s important to bear in mind that if you do have any symptoms that to seek help early, even such a simple thing as a tennis alba or symptoms related to a given one joint can have an impact on the related structures, can lead to muscle wasting and lead to some loss of function disability and reduce your energy and your productivity.
And treatment early is more effective than waiting for a period of time before you have treatment, before some degree of disability has set in. So we would advise you to seek help early, to be fully assessed and have adequate treatment to help reduce the symptoms and to prevent any progression and hopefully get to a point where you have where you’re symptom free and you don’t need any ongoing treatment.
Hello everyone. Today we will discuss about some home remedies for osteoarthritis. We have already made a video on recent medicines and surgeries available for osteoarthritis. You can watch the video by clicking the I button on the upper right corner of your screen.
Home remedies aren’t meant to completely replace medical treatments. Instead, they may be able to help you manage osteoarthritis pain with fever side effects. You can turn on both medical treatments and home remedies to ease arthritic pain and joint stiffness.
When it comes to pain, hot and cold compressors are very beneficial. The best thing is it is easily available and side effects free hot compresses are helpful for joint stiffness. It helps soothe stiff joints and relax muscles. Cold compresses are best for joint pain to numb sharp pain and reduce inflammation.
Compresses can reduce muscle pain or spasm surrounding a joint, so making a compress can be as simple as using a warm or cold towel. Next is Epsom salt baths. Epsom salt baths can provide all over relief, especially for joint pain.
The magnesium in epsom salt may help with inflammation and pain. You can buy epsom salt from a drugstore. According to Epsom Salt Council, these baths are safe enough to take as often as you would like for 30 minutes at a time. Use up to three cups of epsom salt in a bath of warm water.
Now let’s discuss about some osteoarthritis friendly foods glucosamine and chondroitin are one of the most popular nutritional supplements. Different studies have different opinions on these nutritional supplements.
A few have found benefits for people with osteoarthritis. While most indicate that these supplements work no better than a placebo, remember that glycosamide and chondroitin can interact with blood thinners such as warfarin, which can cause bleeding problems. Avocado, soya bin unsaponifiable this nutritional supplement is a mixture of avocado and soya bean oils. It is widely used in Europe to treat knee and hip osteoarthritis.
It acts as an antiinflammatory and some studies have shown that it can slow or even prevent joint damage. Omega three fatty acids found in fatty fish and fish oil supplements might help relieve pain and improve function. On the flip side, the Arthritis foundation says that the certain foods can aggravate osteoarthritis symptoms by increasing body inflammation.
These foods include alcohol, aspartame and artificial sweetener. Salt saturated and trans fat omega six fatty acids sugar refined carbohydrates like white bread, pasta or rice foods with monosodium glutamate, gluten and casein. Now the most important thing is maintaining a moderate weight. We have previously discussed that osteoarthritis primarily affects weight bearing joints, so carrying extra weight increases the stress on your weight bearing joints, such as your knee and hip. Even minor weight loss can relieve some pressure and reduce your pain.
So talk to your dietitian about healthy ways to lose weight. Next thing you should try is physical therapy and occupational therapy. A physical therapist can show you exercises to strengthen the muscles around your joint, increase your flexibility, and reduce pain. Regular, gentle exercise that you do on your own, such as swimming or walking, can be equally effective now, whereas an occupational therapist can help you discover ways to do everyday tasks without putting an extra stress on your already painful joint.
For example, a toothbrush with a large grip could make brushing your teeth easier if you have osteoarthritis in your hands, a bench in your shower could help relieve the pain of standing if you have knee osteoarthritis. All right, so that’s all for today. Hope you liked our video. Don’t forget to, like, share and subscribe to our channel. Thank you. Bye.
Foods play an important role in arthritis because they can either help reduce inflammation and manage symptoms, or exacerbate inflammation and make symptoms worse. Arthritis is a chronic condition characterized by inflammation of the joints, and certain foods can either promote or reduce inflammation in the body, which can affect arthritis symptoms.
Usually, inflammation is not bad, it actually protects our body from infection and helps in wound healing. But when inflammation persists for a long period, chronic symptoms can develop, which is bad for our joints and overall health. So if you have arthritis or joint pain, then you should avoid certain foods that can aggravate inflammation and joint pain.
First in our list is inflammatory fats. Several types of fat increase inflammation in the body. According to the Arthritis Foundation, a person with arthritis should limit the intake of omega six fatty acids, saturated fat and trans fats. Several oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower and vegetable contain high levels of omega six fatty acids.
Omega six fatty acids are not harmful in moderation, but excessive consumption can aggravate joint pain. Saturated fat is also harmful for the joint. According to dietary guidelines, saturated fat should comprise less than 10% of an individual’s total daily caloric intake. Here are some foods which contains high saturated fats like fatty cuts of meat such as beef, pork and lamb poultry with skin such as chicken and turkey.
The skin of poultry contains relatively high amounts of fat, so removing the skin from poultry can help reduce the intake of saturated fat and overall calorie content. Next is full fat dairy products such as whole milk, butter and cheese high fat desserts and baked goods such as cakes, cookies and pastries fast food and fried foods such as French fries and fried chicken. Animal fats such as lard and tallow also contain high amount of saturated fats.
Trans fats are also harmful as it raises inflammation levels. The Food and Drug Administration banned trans fats from prepared foods in 2018. However, some processed foods may still contain trans fats, so you should check the nutrition facts panel and ingredients list to be sure.
A recent study indicates that people who drink regular sugar sweetened soda have an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Frequent consumption of sugar sweetened beverages can also lead to obesity, inflammation and other chronic diseases. Many products contain added sugars, so always check food labels of breakfast cereals, sauces and soft drinks as these may contain surprising amounts of added sugars. Next important thing is night shades.
Nightshades are a group of vegetables that contain the compound solanine. It is a natural toxic compound that acts as a natural pesticide, protecting these plants from insects, fungi and other threats. Different studies have different opinion about the nightshade vegetables. Some say it can trigger inflammation, but others say it can actually reduce inflammation.
So what to do? The arthritis foundation advises that people who suspect nightshades may exacerbate symptoms, exclude them from their diet for a couple of weeks, then reintroduce them one at a time. So here are the nightshade vegetables you should consume cautiously, like tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, eggplant and potatoes. Next important thing you should avoid is high age foods.
Advanced glycation end products or ages are molecules created through reactions between sugars and proteins or fats. They naturally exist in uncooked animal foods and are formed through certain cooking methods. High protein, high fat animal foods that are fried, roasted, grilled, seared or broiled are among the richest dietary sources of ages.
These include bacon, pan fried or grilled steak, roasted or fried chicken and broiled hot dogs, French fries, American cheese, margarine and mayonnaise are also rich in ages. When ages accumulate in high amounts in your body, oxidative stress and inflammation may occur.
Oxidative stress and age formation are tied to disease progression in people with arthritis. In fact, people with inflammatory arthritis have been shown to have higher levels of ages in their bodies than people without arthritis. Age accumulation in bones and joints may also play a role in the development and progression of osteoarthritis, so try to reduce age containing foods from your diet.
Next in our list is gluten containing foods. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, and it is known to trigger an immune response in individuals with celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is also an autoimmune disease.
It is seen that gluten containing foods can aggravate inflammation and joint pain in rheumatoid arthritis, but if you have osteoarthritis, then you probably don’t have worry about that. Osteoarthritis is primarily caused by wear and tear on the joints over time and there is limited evidence to suggest that gluten is directly harmful for osteoarthritis.
High purine foods are also bad for your joints. Purines are substances in foods that the body converts to uric acid. Uric acid can build up in the bloodstream causing a gout attack. According to the CDC, the following foods are high in purines organ meat such as liver, beer and other alcohol cured meats such as ham, bacon or lunch meats some seafood such as mussels and scallops, but not all purine rich foods are harmful.
Studies found that some purine rich vegetables, such as cauliflower, mushrooms and beans have no links to gout risk. Last, but not the least, is high salt foods. Excessive salt or sodium intake may increase the risk of developing autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
It may also worsen the symptoms. High sodium consumption can also increase blood pressure and raise a person’s risk of developing other chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and kidney disease, heart failure and stroke. People should keep their sodium intake below 2300 milligrams per day, which is about one teaspoon of salt.
If you have arthritis, a healthy diet and lifestyle may help improve your symptoms. Keep in mind that lifestyle factors like your activity level, body weight and smoking status are also vital to managing arthritis. That’s all for today. Hope you find this video helpful. Don’t forget to subscribe the channel. Thank you.
I want to talk to you today about the most common signs and symptoms of knee arthritis. Okay, so, if you’re thinking you might have knee arthritis, there are some very common things and a very common presentation for some people. Now, this is not the fact for everybody, but it is for many people who have knee arthritis. Okay? So I have with me Mr. Bennison today, and I want to thank you so much for doing this for us to help educate the medical community out there and the general public. Mr.
Barnes is 69 years old and has had a progressive increase in knee pain bilaterally. We took a quick look at him today. We were actually seeing him for something else, but I thought this would be a great way to kind of see what an arthritic knee looks like. So the first thing I’d like you to do is I’d like you to stand up for me, and you’re going to face the camera and notice.
The first thing you’re going to notice is a Boeing of the legs, okay? That is very common. Very seldomly do the knees ever go inward and have arthritis, but it does occur. But this is the most common because the inside part of the femur is a little bit larger. It bears more weight and breaks down the inside of the knee, and therefore they start to go outward. Okay? So if you don’t mind, I’m going to have you lever it down on the table.
The next thing I look at is knee definition. So if you take a look at the knee, you’ll notice that there is not a lot of good patella definition anymore. There is a little bit of effusion in here. So some generalized swelling inside the knee joint. But what I have noticed with many people with arthritis is that the kneecap becomes really thick and really wide, probably because of spurring on the outside of the knees.
Okay. And that’s happening on both sides. The other thing that we notice is that he’s not able to straighten his leg all the way. So, as I push down, if you take a look from the side here, you’ll notice that there’s a lot of room underneath his knee, and it’s very snug and tight. Can you slide the heel in toward your bottom like this, bend your knee and pull it all the way in as far as you can?
And this becomes a little restricted also. That’s painful, isn’t it? So uncomfortable here, both in straightening and when bending. Okay. So that’s another very common sign of arthritis in the knee. Now, the next thing we’re going to do is we’re going to do a little poking. So we’re going to poke on the inside of the knee on this part of the joint line right here. And we’re tender in there. Right in here. Okay. That’s very common. So medial joint line tenderness is very common with knee arthritis.
So I usually go in the inside of that joint and find some tenderness there also. So we have swelling, we have a wide kneecap Boeing of the leg. We have tenderness on the inside and loss of the ability to straighten it out and to bend it. So those are very common with knee arthritis. So if you suspect that you might have knee arthritis, it’s a good idea to see a medical provider.
Sometimes getting a little bit stronger can help make a difference. He has pretty good motion and not a tremendous amount of pain. But usually when that pain starts to get worse, it’s time to really get that checked out. Go to Home
Our health website brings you the convenience of instant access.
© 2024 Health Medicus
