Arthritis - Causes, symptoms & diagnosis

Arthritis is the swelling and tenderness of one or more joints, the main symptoms of arthritis are joint pain and stiffness, which typically worsen with age. 

Types of arthritis:

The most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis causes cartilage -  the hard, slippery tissue that covers the edges of bones where joints are formed to break down.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition where joints, beginning with the lining of joints are affected due to the immune system. Uric acid crystals are formed when there's too much uric acid in the blood, which can cause gout. Infections or underlying disease, such as psoriasis or lupus, can cause other types of arthritis in the patients. 

Causes - In both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis damage of joints are found in different ways.

Osteoarthritis

The most common type of arthritis, osteoarthritis mainly involves wear-and-tear damage to a person's joint's cartilage — the hard, slick coating on the ends of bones where they form a joint. Cartilage cushions near the ends of the bones and allows nearly frictionless joint motion, but enough damage can result in bone grinding directly on bone, which causes pain and restricted movement. This wear and tear can occur for many years, or it can be hastened by a joint injury or infection.

Osteoarthritis also affects the entire joint. It causes changes in the bones and deterioration of the connective tissues that attach muscle to bone(tendon) and hold the joint together tightly. It also causes inflammation or swelling of the joint lining.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis, the body's immune system attacks the lining of the joint capsule, it is a tough membrane that encloses all the joint parts. This lining (synovial membrane) becomes inflamed and swollen in this type. This disease process can eventually destroy cartilage and bone within the joint of the patient.

Symptoms

The most common signs and symptoms of arthritis involve the joints' damages differently. Depending on the type of arthritis, signs and symptoms include:

  • Pain

  • Stiffness

  • Swelling

  • Redness

  • Decreased range of motion

Diagnosis 

Doctors may look for physical examination like joints for swelling, redness and warmth. They want to check how well you can move your joints.

Laboratory tests

Body fluids are analysed that mainly include blood, urine and joint fluid.to collect samples of joint fluid, doctor will cleanse and numb the area before inserting a needle in your joint space to withdraw some fluid.

Imaging

These image screening helps in detecting the problems within the joints and symptoms causing the disease.

  • X-rays do not reveal early arthritic damage, but they are often used to track progression of the disease. Low levels radiation to visualize bone, X-rays can show cartilage loss, bone damage and bone spurs in the image. 

  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - It used to produce more-detailed cross-sectional images of soft tissues such as cartilage, tendons and ligaments. 

  • Computerized tomography (CT) -  This takes X-rays images from many different angles and combines the information to create cross-sectional views of internal structures. CT scans can visualize both bone and the surrounding soft tissues.

  • Ultrasound - US image is used to guide needle placement for joint aspirations and injections. Because this technology uses high-frequency sound waves to image soft tissues, cartilage and fluid-containing structures near the joints (bursae).


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