Woman''s Menstrual Periods And The Arthritis Issue

Why do many women with arthritis feel worsening symptoms before and during their monthly menstrual periods? During the course of any day in caring for women with arthritis, it is not uncommon for a number of them to complain of a monthly regular worsening of their joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. This is not just a coincidence. Many forms of arthritis and rheumatic diseases are known to occur more frequently in women than in men. Moreover, it is not unusual for the initial presentation of these conditions to happen following pregnancy, and even possible as women approaches menopause. Why? Researchers are finding that the immune system is influenced by signals from the female reproductive hormones. It seems that the levels of hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone, as well as changes in these levels can promote autoimmunity. "Autoimmunity" is a condition whereby the immune system - which normally wards off foreign invaders of the body, such as infections, turns and attacks the body''s own tissues, such as skin, joints, liver, lungs, etc. Autoimmune diseases typically feature inflammation of various tissues of the body. Autoimmune diseases are also characterized by a disorder of the immune system with the abnormal production of antibodies (autoantibodies) that are directed against the tissues of the body. Examples of autoimmune diseases include not only those that feature inflammation in the joints, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, sjogren''s syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis, but also disease of other organs, such as occurs in Hashimoto''s thyroiditis and juvenile diabetes mellitus. When women report only having symptoms or having increased symptoms at monthly intervals that coincide with their menstrual periods, many physicians will recommend adjusting or adding medication to reduce inflammation selectively just before and during the period. The rationale for this short-term adjustment is that the immune system may be temporarily more active as hormone imbalances during their periods. The additional medication can frequently help to prevent the symptom roller coaster that affects many women with arthritis.

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis: Define Your Child''s Pain

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a childhood disease that causes inflamed, swollen joints. This makes joints stiff and painful. Unlike adults with rheumatoid arthritis, many children with the disease grow out of it after they get ed treatment. Others will need ongoing treatment as adults. There are 3 types of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, namely: * Pauciarticular is the most common and mildest type. Your child may have pain in 1 to 4 joints, such as the knees, ankles, fingers, toes, wrists, elbows, or hips. * Polyarticular is more severe. It affects more joints and tends to get worse over time. It often begins in the knees and hips. * Systemic is the least common type. But it can be the most serious. It causes pain in many joints and can also spread to organs. Doctors don''t really know what causes the disease. But there are a number of things that they think can lead to it. These things include: * An immune system that is too active and attacks joint tissues. * Viruses or other infections that cause the immune system to attack joint tissues. * Having a certain gene that makes the immune system more likely to attack joint tissues. Children can have one or many arthritis symptoms, such as: * Joint pain. * Joint swelling. * Joint stiffness. * Trouble sleeping or Insomnia. * Problems walking. In some cases these symptoms can be mild and hard for you to see. A young child may be more cranky than normal or may go back to crawling after he or she has started walking. You may notice that your child feels stiff in the morning or has trouble walking. Children with this disease can also get inflammatory eye disease. This can lead to blindness if it is not treated. Eye disease often has no symptoms before vision loss occurs. That is why it is important for your child to have regular eye exams with an ophthalmologist. Treatment can begin before your child has long-lasting vision problems. Your physician will ask questions about your child’s symptoms and past health and will do a physical exam. Your child may also have blood tests and a urine test to look for signs of the disease. If your child has the disease, these tests can help your physician find out which type it is.Your child’s treatment will be based on the type of arthritis he or she has and how serious it is. The most common treatment includes medicines to reduce pain and swelling (NSAIDs), along with physical therapy. Your child may also get shots of steroid medicine into a joint to relieve swelling and pain. If these treatments don''t help, then your child may be given other medicines. Surgery to correct joint problems is only done in rare cases. Exercise is an important part of your child’s treatment. Physical therapists can teach you and your child exercises to keep your child’s muscles flexible and strong. Moving your child''s painful joints through their full range of motion keeps them from getting stiff or deformed. Many children with the disease don''t want to move painful joints. Your child may need your help to keep doing daily physical therapy. Even when juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is not a severe type, your child may still need long-term treatment. To make sure that treatment is right for your child, work closely with the medical team. Learn as much as you can about your child’s disease and treatments. Stay on a schedule with your child’s medicines and exercise.

Seven Steps To Manage Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain

Joint protection is one strategy to help you manage your rheumatoid arthritis pain. Taking the time to think ahead and plan ways to prevent unnecessarily stressing your joints may help you reduce your rheumatoid arthritis pain. Arthritic joints cannot tolerate as much stress, so pushing, pulling or twisting motions can be painful. Though you may want to work through your rheumatoid arthritis pain, doing so can aggravate the situation. To avoid unnecessary joint strain and increased rheumatoid arthritis pain, follow these steps.1. Move each joint through its full pain-free range of motion at least once a day: This will help you maintain freedom of motion in your joints. The amount you are able to move each joint without rheumatoid arthritis pain may vary from day to day. Take care not to overdo it. Keep movements slow and gentle; sudden jerking or bouncing can hurt your joints. 2. Learn to understand and respect your rheumatoid arthritis pain: Understand the difference between the general discomfort of rheumatoid arthritis and the pain from overusing a joint. By noting the activity that stressed a joint, you can avoid repeating that movement. Pain that lasts more than an hour after an activity may indicate that the activity was too stressful. Think of ways that you can modify the action. Remember that you are more likely to damage your joints when they are painful and swollen. 3. Be careful how you use your hands: You use your fingers in many day-to-day activities. Stressful positions and techniques may increase the risk of pain. You can perform most tasks in easier ways that put less deforming forces on your joints. 4. Use good body mechanics: The way you position your body largely affects how much strain you put on your joints. Proper body mechanics allow you to use your body more efficiently and conserve energy. 5. Use the strongest joint available for the job: Save your weaker joints for the specific jobs that only they can accomplish. Throughout the day, favor large joints. For example, carry objects with your palm open, distributing the weight equally over your forearm. Slide objects along a counter or workbench rather than lifting them. When opening cabinets or heavy doors, use a loop that you can pull with your wrist or forearm to decrease stress on your fingers. 6. Avoid keeping your joints in the same position for a prolonged period of time: Don''t give your joints the chance to become stiff — keep them moving. When writing or doing handwork, release your grip every 10 to 15 minutes, or when your hand feels fatigued. On long car trips, get out of the car, stretch and move around at least every hour. While watching television, get up and move around every half-hour. 7. Balance periods of rest and activity during the day: Effectively managing your workload throughout the day can help you avoid overworked joints. Work at a steady, moderate pace and avoid rushing. Rest before you become fatigued or sore. Alternate light and moderate activities throughout the day. And take periodic stretch breaks. Remember, you don''t have to make all of these changes at once. By gradually incorporating these methods into your day-to-day activities, you are more likely to stick with them; just like how you manage to get rid of constipation - you eat food rich in fiber, drink plenty of water and exercise everyday until the time your problem with constipation is solved. Keep an open mind about how you do everyday tasks. You might have to change some old habits, but the reward is that your joints may cause you less pain.

The Importance Of Exercise For Rheumatoid Arthritis

When joints are stiff and painful, exercise might be the last thing on your mind. Yet when you have rheumatoid arthritis, exercising regularly is one of the best things you can do to take care of yourself and your joints. Here is why exercise is so important:* People who exercise live longer, with or without rheumatoid arthritis.* Regular exercise can actually reduce overall pain from rheumatoid arthritis.* Exercise can keep your bones strong and make your skin healthy. (In fact many people consider this method as their anti aging skin care remedy.) Thinning of the bones can be a problem with rheumatoid arthritis, especially if you need to take steroids. Exercise helps bones keep their strength.* Exercise maintains muscle strength.* Regular exercise improves functional ability and lets you do more for yourself.* People with rheumatoid arthritis who exercise feel better about themselves and are better able to cope with problems. Exercise or certain kinds of exercise are proven to be safe for people with rheumatoid arthritis. There are 3 types you can do: stretching, strengthening, and conditioning. * Stretching exercises are the simplest and easiest. They consist of stretching and holding different joint and muscle groups for 10 to 30 seconds each. Stretching improves flexibility, and daily stretching is the basis for any exercise program.* Strength exercises involve working the muscle against resistance. This can be either with or without weights. Resistance training strengthens the muscle and increases the amount of activity you can do pain-free.* Conditioning exercise, also called aerobic exercise, improves cardiovascular fitness. There are countless benefits to aerobic exercise. Among them, it makes your heart and blood vessels healthier, prevents disability, and improves mood and well-being. Good conditioning exercises for people with rheumatoid arthritis include low-impact activities like walking, swimming, bicycling, or using an elliptical machine. Any of these will get your heart pumping.After being cleared by your physician, you should try to do 20 to 30 minutes of low-impact conditioning exercise on as many days as you feel you can. More is better, but any amount is better than none at all. Arthritis exercises can safely provide pain relief and build muscle strength.Indeed arthritis exercises can safely provide pain relief and build muscle strength. However you should be careful about activities that put a lot of stress on a joint, or an "high-impact," such as: Jogging, especially on paved roads; Heavy weight lifting. That is not to say that these activities are totally off-limits. If you are interested in trying them, talk to your doctor first. Your rheumatologist can help you create an exercise program that is right for you. This may also involve meeting with a physical therapist. Physical therapists can identify what areas you need to work on, choose the right exercises for you, and tell you how vigorously you should exercise. There are also community exercise programs designed just for people with arthritis. Your should work with your treatment team to design the right plan before starting to exercise, especially if you have other medical problems. As you start to exercise regularly, you will realize the benefits, and you will know you have taken control of your rheumatoid arthritis. Soon, not only will your joints feel better - you will feel better too.

How Juvenile Arthritis Affects The Human Eyes

A child who has juvenile arthritis may develop problems with his or her eyes. The problems may be caused by the disease. In some cases, though, the problem may be caused by the medications the child takes for the disease. The most common eye problem that can develop in children with juvenile arthritis is uveitis. Uveitis is an inflammation of the inner parts of the eye in a section called the uvea. The uvea consists of the following:* Iris. The colored part of the eye.* Ciliary Body. Which makes fluid inside the eye and controls the movement of the lens.* The Choroid. The lining that covers the eyeball from the iris all the way around the eye.When uveitis affects specific parts of the eye it may also be called iritis or iridocyclitis. Untreated and severe uveitis can cause scarring of the eye. It can also cause vision problems. Other complications include:* Glaucoma. A condition that causes high pressure in the eye.* Cataracts. Clouding of the lens of the eye.* Permanent Vision Damage, including blindness.Uveitis can occur one year before diagnosis with juvenile arthritis. Or it could occur at the same time that juvenile arthritis is diagnosed or even up to 15 years after the diagnosis but when that time comes surely the Internet with great website design Lexington could provide you lot of information about its prevention and medication. Uveitis can also occur several years after juvenile arthritis is in remission when the disease is not active. Juvenile arthritis, on the other hand, is an autoimmune disease. That means the immune system attacks its own body. The disease is known by several names: juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, childhood arthritis, and Still''s disease. It is the most common type of arthritis to affect children. In juvenile arthritis, the immune system targets the tissue that lines the inside of joints. That tissue is known as the synovium. The synovium''s response is to make excess fluid called synovial fluid. That causes swelling, pain, and stiffness. Inflammation may cause damage to cartilage and bone and may spread to other parts of the body, such as the eyes.

Hormones And The “Menopause Arthritis”

Lots of women come into the clinic noticing joint pain or arthritis for the first time during perimenopause. Studies have shown that lower estrogen levels during perimenopause and menopause are frequently associated with joint pain or arthritis. Although the correlation between estrogen and your joints is not completely understood, you do know that estrogen has an anti-inflammatory effect in the body. Estrogen actually quiets the inflammatory "noise" in your joints along with the noise in many other parts of the body. As hormone levels initiate their natural shift during perimenopause, any hormonal imbalances that estrogen has quietly been covering begin to rise to the surface, leaving you perplexed by issues you never before encountered. The truth is, most people probably had inflammation in their joints for some time, but estrogen was cloaking your sensitivity to the pain. However, a lot of women find their pain eases when their hormones return to balance, though for some, this only one piece of the picture. The foods, of course a great gift ideas, you are eating can be determining factor in restoring balance and quieting the inflammatory noise.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: How Does It Affect The Lungs?

Although rheumatoid arthritis primarily affects the joints and surrounding tissues, it can also affect the lungs. The most common lung problems associated with rheumatoid arthritis include:* Painful Breathing. Rheumatoid arthritis can cause inflammation of the lining of the lungs (pleurisy). The inflammation can cause sharp pain while breathing.* Shortness Of Breath. Fluid due to inflammation may accumulate around the lungs (pleural effusion). This accumulation can cause shortness of breath.* Lung Nodules. Small lumps may form in the lungs (rheumatoid nodules), as well as in other parts of the body. Lung nodules usually cause no signs or symptoms, and they don''t pose a risk of lung cancer.* Scarring Of The Lungs. Rheumatoid arthritis can lead to scarring of the connective tissue that supports the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs (pulmonary fibrosis). The primary signs and symptoms include shortness of breath, chronic dry cough, fatigue, weakness, loss of appetite and rapid weight loss.* Scarring Of The Small Airways In The Lungs. Some rheumatoid arthritis medications can cause scarring of the small airways in the lungs (bronchiolitis obliterans). This can lead to difficulty breathing.Contact your physician promptly if you have rheumatoid arthritis and experience any unexplained breathing problems. Sometimes treatment is aimed at the underlying rheumatoid arthritis. And for more information about the latest rheumatoid arthritis treatment, just check it out in the Internet. There are many websites with great Internet marketing strategies that offer more reliable information about rheumatoid arthritis. In other cases, treatment involves medication to suppress the immune system or a procedure to remove fluid from the lungs.

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