Seropositive rheumatoid arthritis
Content:
- What is Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis?
- Causes of Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Symptoms of Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Diagnostics
- Treatment of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis
What is Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Seropositive rheumatoid arthritis - in medicine, it means a disease that is chronic in nature and affects small joints. It often also causes changes in the functioning of organs and their systems in the body. When diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis, the results of a biochemical blood test show the presence of rheumatoid factor in it. As a rule, it is found in 80% of patients with this disease. In this case, a special type of rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed - seropositive. Another type of disease is seronegative arthritis. It is much less common.
Women suffer from rheumatoid arthritis more often than men, and it develops in older people. Usually, the first symptoms begin to appear after 35 years. The joints become stiff, pain occurs when making simple movements. The disease makes life difficult for patients.
Causes of Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis
The etiology of this disease is still in doubt among scientists. However, a number of factors have been identified that contribute to the development of the disease. First of all, these are viruses and mycoplasmas. The risk group includes elderly patients and people after 40. Their joints and cartilage tissue are worn out and more susceptible to changes than young people. On the basis of experiments, it was found that there is also some genetic predisposition to seropositive rheumatoid arthritis.
Various infections, as well as allergies and stress can be the cause of the disease. Therefore, it is important to monitor your physical and psycho-emotional state. Hypothermia should not be allowed. This also leads to the development of seropositive arthritis. It is considered an autoimmune disease. This means that in the course of its development, the body produces antibodies, but they are considered by the immune system as foreign. In this regard, a protective function is triggered. The immune system attacks the produced immunoglobulins, which leads to joint inflammation and destruction of its tissues.
Symptoms of Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis
The main symptom in seropositive rheumatoid arthritis is rheumatoid factor, which is detected during a biochemical blood test. However, even before laboratory tests are carried out, other signs of the disease may be noticed. It is thanks to them that arthritis is suspected. After all, it does not appear immediately in an acute form. Typically, patients with seropositive arthritis experience characteristic joint pain. Its strength and character depends on the stage of the disease. In the initial stages, discomfort occurs in the morning, after the limbs have been at rest for a long time. As the disease progresses, pains appear not only in the morning and during movement, but also at rest.
Seropositive arthritis is manifested in damage to connective tissue and blood vessels. This is known as vasculitis. It is a pathological change in blood vessels, arteries, capillaries and veins. As a result, vasculitis can lead to serious disturbances in the body's circulatory system. In addition to the heart, the lungs are affected in patients with seropositive arthritis. This in turn leads to the development of fibrosing alveolitis, pleurisy and interstitial fibrosis. The patient suffers from shortness of breath, coughs.
The liver, spleen, and lymph nodes are often enlarged. Over time, kidney failure may develop, and digestive problems may appear. If you palpate the skin, then you can find small formations under it - rheumatoid nodules. External changes in the joints become noticeable at the advanced stage of seropositive arthritis. They can be expressed in a change in the usual position of the foot or hand, flat feet or subluxation. In each case, the disease proceeds at a different rate. However, the result is always the same: severe damage to the connective, cartilaginous and bone tissue, which causes joint immobility.
Diagnostics
For an accurate diagnosis, a biochemical blood test is performed. With seropositive arthritis, rheumatoid factor is detected in the blood serum, an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, hemoglobin levels are below normal, but the amount of C-reactive protein is increased. With the help of radiography, damage to the joints and cartilage tissue is determined. Based on the image, the doctor determines the degree of development of the disease.
Treatment of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis
Treating seropositive rheumatoid arthritis involves slowing down the destruction of joints and cartilage. Timely suppressed inflammation can weaken the lesions. The best results in treatment can be achieved by combining medication, physiotherapy, diet, and exercise therapy. In the later stages of the development of seropositive arthritis, surgery is required. Therefore, it is so important to diagnose the disease in time.
The use of medication is aimed at relieving pain and eliminating the cause of arthritis. To eliminate discomfort in the joints, pain relievers are used, as well as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They are injected directly into the joint. In the absence of a positive result, in some cases, they resort to using steroid drugs. However, their use has serious side effects.
Physiotherapy helps to alleviate the course of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis: massage, acupuncture, use of anti-inflammatory ointments. In the remission stage, doctors recommend doing therapeutic exercises to restore joint mobility. A set of exercises is developed by a specialist. Gymnastics should be performed carefully, if pain occurs, immediately stop practicing. Diet can enhance the effect of various treatments. Patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis are advised to give up fatty, salty and too heavy foods, preferring simple natural products.
Author of the article: Kaplan Alexander Sergeevich | Orthopedist
Education: diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received in 2009 at the Medical Academy. I. M. Sechenov. In 2012 completed postgraduate studies in Traumatology and Orthopedics at the City Clinical Hospital named after Botkin at the Department of Traumatology, Orthopedics and Disaster Surgery.
