March 29, 2012 – 10:50 am
Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriasis is a skin condition that results to irritated, red skin patches with white scales at the top. People who have this condition are a candidate for Psoriatic arthritis.
What is psoriatic arthritis?
Psoriatic arthritis is a kind of arthritis that affects people who have psoriasis. Some people develop psoriatic arthritis first before the skin condition occurs. There is no known cure for psoriatic arthritis, so doctors can only help control symptoms and lessen or prevent joint damage. The exact causes are still unknown, but recent studies have said that genetic association is a factor. What are Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms?
Stiffness and joint pains are signs of psoriatic arthritis. They affect a wide range of areas from one’s finger tips down to his heels.
What Causes Psoriatic Arthritis?
When a person’s immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues, psoriatic arthritis occurs. Genetic factors contribute to trigger this condition as it has been observed that it tends to occur to people who have a history of psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis.
Five main classification of psoriatic arthritis:
Asymmetric:
It affects the wrist, ankle, knee and hip joints. Some people develop painful swelling of the fingers and/or toes but are generally mild.
Symmetric:
Symmetric psoriatic arthritis causes stiffness, pain and swelled joints. It affects both side of the body’s joints, usually in pairs.
Arthritis mutilans:
Arthritis mutilans result to arthritis that is severe and destructive. This arthritis can develop over months or years and result to severe joint damage. Arthritis mutilations may be seen in rheumatoid arthritis, as well.
Spondylitis:
Spondylitis psoriatic arthritis leads to inflammation of the spinal column. Pains in the lower back and spinal column are common symptoms among a number of people, along with stiffness of the spine or neck, making certain movements painful and difficult.
Distal Interphalangeal Predominant:
The distal interphalangeal predominant type affects few people prone to psoriatic arthritis. It involves the distal joints (joints closest to the nail) of the fingers and toes. This is often confused with osteoarthritis.
Psoriatic Arthritis
March 29, 2012 – 10:46 am
Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment
Cure for psoriatic arthritis remains a mystery. Swelling and joint pains are associated with this condition so doctors focus on controlling or relieving them.
Psoriatic arthritis treatment uses anti-inflammatory medications. Exercise routines that can be done at home or with a therapist also help enhance psoriatic arthritis treatment because it strengthens joints.
Many drugs are used to treat Psoriatic arthritis, but many patients, due to the many potential side effects these drugs give, have resorted to traditional psoriatic arthritis diet(or something like that) and exercise.
Proper diet, whether exclusively for a certain disease/ condition or not, is essential to healthy living. Generation after generation has discovered the not-so-secret benefits of monitoring food intake. A scientist once said, “only the dosage makes a thing, not a poison.” Same principle could be applied to diet; it is the right amount of the right foods that make a diet the right diet, even for a psoriatic arthritis treatment diet.
Exercise. Patients have resorted to exercise as a psoriatic arthritis treatment. Since exercise involves moving, the joint functions are improved, and weight is maintained. Most routines are done under the supervision of a physical therapist. People also like the idea of going to the gym, meeting a community of people, who like them, have goals to improve their physical health and challenge them to do what it takes to live healthier.
Instead of taking Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and the new method that uses biological response modifiers, there are still people who believe in the power of diet and exercise.
Their psoriatic arthritis treatment method depends not only in what they eat or do, but largely, on the power of their motivation to live life, despite their medical condition, to the fullest. Whether uncanny or naivete, we can’t tell. All we know is that it works for them.
Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment
March 29, 2012 – 10:24 am
Psoriatic Arthritis Diet
For a condition that has no cure, maintenance is the only option. A steady intake of medications, which can cause many side effects (may lead to cancer and liver problems), is simply uninviting. Greater pain and severe complications usually require higher dosage of drugs.
Psoriatic arthritis has no known cure. It is a kind of arthritis that affects people with psoriasis. For people who suffer from this condition, there is still one option they can consider before resorting to potentially harmful drugs– the psoriatic arthritis diet.
By simple observation, a person with psoriatic arthritis can determine which foods worsen joint pain and which foods relieve symptoms.
Tips for a psoriatic arthritis diet:
- Regular food intake helps fighting off fatigue and keeps you from hunger, which prevents overeating.
- Eat fruits and vegetables. Eating fresh foods relieve the skin disease. These are foods that do not come from a box or a carton. They are fresh and do not last long.
- Set portion size. Go for lean cuts of beef, poultry and fish. Also, choose low-fat dairy products. Read food labels and avoid processed meats.
- Supplements. It’s not a bad idea to take multivitamins.
- Avoid foods with lots of sugar and salt. Drink plenty of water.
Joint function is improved with exercise and helps maintain normal weight, both a huge factor for people on a psoriatic arthritis diet.
Eating the right foods at the right amount is not only for psoriatic arthritis diet. In fact, it is the general diet principle regardless of the disease.
This article is not about the psoriatic arthritis diet. This is to show you how to start monitoring the foods you eat and determine which works best for you. A healthy diet is necessary regardless of the disease or medical condition.
Psoriatic Arthritis Diet
Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms
If a person is suffering from regular inflammation of the skin and joints and it is recurrent in nature, he or she may be suffering from a very irritating and often dangerous disease called psoriatic arthritis. It is more a condition rather than a disease that causes inflammation of the skin and joints. It results in the skin becoming red, scaly in patches. Usually the areas that get often affected are knees, elbows, abdomen and sometimes even the genital areas also get affected. Hence before treatment can begin it is very important to identify some common
psoriatic arthritis symptoms
These psoriatic arthritis symptoms are very obvious and it is not very difficult to identify them. It is a unique and different type of arthritis that gets manifested once a person has psoriasis.
There are other psoriatic arthritis symptoms which are far too evident to be ignored. For example this condition usually affects people in the age group of 30 to 50 and it affects both male and female alike. The condition could be mild in some patient in which case it becomes very difficult to identify the symptoms. Many a times some common psoriatic arthritis symptoms are often mistaken as joint problems and only when the symptoms become very severe, the doctors are able to identify it as psoriasis accompanied by arthritis.
Hence it would be prudent to be on the lookout for some very common psoriatic arthritis symptoms. The first symptoms that one should be on the lookout for are in the toes and fingers of the person. Usually, the fingers and toes become so swollen that they at times look like sausages. This would be followed by grayish scales around the same areas. These are the classic and primary psoriatic arthritis symptoms of this condition which the patient should closely watch.
If the condition is not treated when the first psoriatic arthritis symptoms appears, then it leads to the manifestation of the secondary symptoms which could include severe pain in the lower part of the body and also the buttocks. The nails of the body also get affected and pitting starts to happen. Morning hours could be a big problem because when waking up you could experience stiffness in the knees and other joints. There are also other very common and pertinent psoriatic arthritis symptoms such as lethargy and fatigue which should not be ignored at all.
Though the disease is not completely curable there are a number of medications and treatments which can effectively control and manage most of the psoriatic arthritis symptoms.
Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms
Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms
Before we understand what are the classic
psoriatic arthritis symptoms
it would be better for us to understand what exactly is this condition called psoriatic arthritis? Though there are many types of arthritis, this particular type of arthritis is lesser known amongst most sections of people. The reason for this is because this is a combination of two diseases. Psoriasis basically affects the skin and when it comes in combination with arthritis, it affects the joints and bones too. It affects people between the age group 30 to 50. Though children get rarely affected by this condition, there have been some cases that have been reported amongst children also. It has been found that people first get affected with psoriasis and eventually around 30% of such patients also get affected with psoriatic arthritis. Over the next few lines let us now try and look out for the common psoriatic arthritis symptoms.
The first sign of this condition as explained above starts with symptoms associated with psoriasis. The skin becomes silvery white in color. As days progress the affected area becomes red with rough patches around it. This happens because of excess production of dead skin around this area. It becomes itchy and very uncomfortable. So these are classic symptoms which should be carefully watched out for.
Once these initial symptoms are ignored, arthritis sets in and this leads to some very common and classic psoriatic arthritis symptoms. The symptoms associated with arthritis are joint inflammation where the fingers of the hands and legs started swelling up. In fact they grow so big that at time they resemble big sized sausages. They become very painful and normal movement of the fingers become next to impossible. Hence, if a person has these psoriatic arthritis symptoms it can be safely concluded that he or she is suffering from psoriasis arthritis. Apart from the above symptoms, there are other psoriatic arthritis symptoms too such as low back pain and rashes in the abdominal and genital areas. The knees and other joints of the body also become very tender and stiff and normal body movement becomes a big problem.
So once the classic psoriatic arthritis symptoms are confirmed, the treatment should be started without any delay. The most common treatment that is followed is with the use of non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs or better known as NSAIDs. It has to be understood that there is no permanent cure for psoriatic arthritis symptoms and the only way is to manage it effectively.
Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms
Asymmetric:
