About the chronic rheumatism

I am diagnosed when seeming the chronic rheumatism in August, 2002, and the articular rheumatism has recovered by the cold water friction. Because the articular rheumatism was variously examined, it records.

What is articular rheumatism (RA)?

RA is an abbreviation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (meaning of the chronic rheumatism). Immunity is ..articular rheumatism.. abnormal, the joint aches, and it is sick ..the transformation of the worsening joint... It is thought that it happens in a word because the antibody that is sure to defend my body causes abnormality in immunity in some causes, and mistakes a part of my body oppositely for the antigen and attacks it (antigen-antibody reaction). A method of treatment fundamental because it is sick not to understand the cause well seems not to have been established. There are a lot of numbers of patients even if the cause is sick ..no understanding.. and the intractable disease recognition is not done.

Generally, joints in the hands and feet are violated, and it has the joint pain and the transformation of the joint. The trouble might reach the whole body internal organs such as the blood vessel, the heart, lungs, the skins, and the muscles when the symptom becomes awful.

It is said that the number of patients of articular rheumatisms will exceed 500,000 in the Japanese whole country. It is sick in the woman a lot 30-in its sixties, especially of working sitting borrowing ..a lot of seeing.. in the woman from the man.

Symptom of articular rheumatism

There are swelling and a pain in the joint of the hand and the finger as a symptom of which it is conscious first. When getting up in the morning, I feel puffy feeling and "Stiffen" in the digitus manus. This might be said, "Stiffen about the morning" and it continue for several hours.

At first, the symptom only of joints in the hands and feet spreads to the joint of the whole body when the articular rheumatism progresses. The joint is gradually transformed and it comes to cause daily life the obstacle.

Please note that there is a possibility that is the malignant joint rheumatism, too especially when symptoms of whole bodies such as anemia, generation of heat, tiredness, anorexias, and the swelling of the lymph nodes are accompanied, too.

Inspection of articular rheumatism

X-ray check

It came to be able to see a detailed change in the shrinkage of the bone, the disappearance of the cartilage, and the destruction of the periosteum, etc. with a special film recently.

Blood test

Erythrocyte sedimentation
The speed (erythrocyte sedimentation and blood sedimentation) where the red blood corpuscle sinks quickens when there is an inflammation in the inside of the body.
CRP
It is understood whether the inflammation has happened to the inside of the body.
Rheumatism factor
It is seen whether to have the rheumatism factor of the autologous antibody.
Antinuclear antibody
It becomes a positivity when it is an autologous antibody that can be done to the nucleus of the cell, and there is an autoimmune disease.
Immune complex
The immune complex is seen when there is an autoimmune disease.

Diagnosis of articular rheumatism

If it fills more than four items of the following seven items, the diagnostic norm of rheumatism is diagnosed as the articular rheumatism. However, there is sickness of the symptom that looks like a lot, and the definite diagnosis seems to be difficult.

  1. There must be stiffening in the morning. (continuation during one hour)
  2. The multiple locus must be arthritis. (swelling of joint in at least three places or more)
  3. There must be swelling joints of hand.
  4. There must be swelling a symmetric joint.
  5. There must be a rheumatic nodule.
  6. The rheumatoid factor (rheumatism factor) is a positivity.
  7. It must be a roentgenologic examination and there be a typical rheumatism joint opinion.

Treatment of articular rheumatism

In a present medical guideline, the antirheumatic drug is recommended to be used at the early stage when the diagnosis of the articular rheumatism descends, and it doesn't treat fundamentally but progress is only delayed. This only suppresses the symptom though non-steroid system putting out analgesic etc. are used as allopathy to the pain.

Anti-rheumatism medicine treatment

It came to be able to delay the progress of the joint destruction had been thought to be impossible up to now by the appearance of the antirheumatic drug.

Steroid therapy

The steroid is the visible therapeutic gain, and has been used for the acute stage as a medicine of allopathy. And, the steroid was thought that the side effect was a strong medicine by not delaying the disease progression.

Recently, the steroid attracts attention again because it has understood the steroid also has the effect of delaying the disease progression as well as the antirheumatic drug.

Treatment by operation

It is likely to operate when the symptom of the articular rheumatism progresses and the function of the joint decreases remarkably. The operation is performed by the orthopedics department with the rheumatism department.

The area of inflammation is taken, and the progress of the symptom is stopped, and there are an operation that removes the involved area of the articular rheumatism and an operation exchanged for the artificial joint, too. You may increase durability to a recent artificial joint.

Information related to immune abnormality

As Koichi Fujita professor of the Tokyo Medical and Dental University zoology, the allergosis might increased because the human race excluded the helminth recently. The theory is recited. I am a reading this feeling as for teacher's book.

The anti-CCP antibody is effective for the early diagnostics of RA.

Only rheumatoid factor (RF) has been used clinical to judge whether it is an articular rheumatism up to now. A lot of autologous antibodies are detected recently, and the anti-CCP antibody especially ..that.. is excellent in sensitivity and the specificity in the chronic rheumatism. It is paid attention as a new diagnostic approach of RA for the first stage and gloomy RF of the appearance of disease of the articular rheumatism because it is detected.