You must have heard about arthritis, but do you know what rheumatoid arthritis is? It is a chronic inflammatory ailment that can impact more than your body joints. It can be devastating and damage several body systems like skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels in a few people. Sometimes, people who suffer from knee ailments confuse it with rheumatoid arthritis. So, this article will highlight the chondrosis of the knee vs rheumatoid arthritis.
What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid Arthritis is an auto-immune syndrome and happens when your immune system falsely attacks your body’s healthy cells. So, unlike deterioration during osteoarthritis, arthritis impacts your joint lining, leading to a painful and inflammatory condition that ultimately leads to bone loss and joint malformation.
So, the inflammation caused due to arthritis can damage other body parts also. Though pioneering medications have meaningfully improved treatments, however, arthritis can still lead to physical disabilities.
What are the Symptoms?
- Swollen, warm, and inflamed joints.
- Pain behind knee that aggravates in the morning and after a long time of inactivity.
- Exhaustion, fever, and loss of hunger.
- Initially, arthritis may impact your petite joints, specifically those that connect your fingers to the hands and toes to the feet.
- As the disease advances, symptoms may spread to your wrists, hips, knees, ankles, elbows, and shoulders.
So, almost 40% of the affected people might suffer from symptoms that might not be related to joints. So, other body parts may include skin, lungs, eyes, heart, kidneys, salivary glands, nerve tissue, bone marrow, and blood vessels.
However, the symptoms vary in terms of severity and may appear and disappear. So, prolonged times of disease activeness( a.k.a flares). It happens when pain, swelling, and inflammation disappear. So, with time, this arthritis can lead to joint deformation causing displacement.
When to Consult a Doctor?
If you feel persistent discomfort and joint inflammation, you should straightaway schedule an appointment with the physician.
What are the Causes?
Generally, your immune system shields your body from infection and diseases. So, if you have arthritis, your immune system is likely to attack the healthy cells of your body. Therefore, you may suffer from health issues associated with the heart, lungs, nerves, eyes, and skin.
Doctors are not sure what initiates this process, though genes are considered the root cause. However, your genes might not trigger arthritis, but they will make you more likely to react to environmental factors like infections.
What are the Risks?
Gender
Women are more probable to developing arthritis than men.
Age
Arthritis can occur at any age. However, it is most likely to trigger in middle age.
Family History
If any of your ancestors or a family member has arthritis, there is an increased chance that you may develop the disease.
Smoking
If you smoke cigarettes, there is a greater chance that you may develop arthritis, specifically if you have a hereditary tendency of this disease. Smoking might also increase the severity of this ailment.
Overweight
If you are obese or overweight, there is a greater risk of developing arthritis.
What are the Complications?
Arthritis can enhance your risk of developing the following disorders:
Osteoporosis
Arthritis itself and some of the medicines consumed for treatment can enhance your risk of developing osteoporosis. It is a disorder that weakens your bones and makes them more susceptible to cracks.
Rheumatoid Nodules
Well-founded tissue bumps usually develop around the pressure points like your elbows. Though, these nodules may develop anywhere in the body, even the heart and lungs.
Dry Eyes and Mouth Cavity
People with arthritis have greater chances of developing Sjogren’s syndrome, an ailment that reduces the moisture content in your eyes and mouth cavity.
Infections
Likewise, arthritis and its treatment medication are likely to harm your immune system, causing infections. So, it is always safe to opt for vaccinations to protect yourself from viral diseases.
Atypical Body Conformation
If you have this arthritis, your fat mass proportion compared to the lean mass is likely higher, even if you have a normal BMI.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
If this arthritis impacts your wrists, the swelling can press your nerves that sources your hands and fingers.
Cardiac Problems
This arthritis can elevate your risk of hardened and obstructed arteries. You may also experience swelling of the sac that enfolds your heart.
Respiratory Disorders
Your risk of respiratory problems also increases, as there is a greater chance of soreness and damage to the lung tissues, and you may experience shortness of breath.
Lymphoma
Your risk of lymphoma, a category of blood cancers, also increases.
Chondrosis of the Knee
Chondrosis of the knee is deep (Grade III) damage or breakdown of the cartilage. So, it impacts your internal (medial) weight-bearing section of the knee.
Why Does This Occur?
So, when your knee cartilage breaks down, it causes deep fissures. So, the external cartilage or “skin” is lost and causes progressive corrosion of the deep cartilage layers. Therefore, this condition is usually referred to as pre-arthritic in the majority of the patients.
What is the Cause?
The prevailing cause is the abnormal acceleration of the deterioration of your knee’s protective cartilage layer. So, it might progress from the previous high impact injury (usually unidentified), overweight, or prolonged weight-bearing activity on firm surfaces. So, it may develop due to a former injury or loss of shock-absorbing meniscus within the internal weight-bearing section of your knee.
What are the Symptoms?
The typical symptoms of this condition encompass pain that might be caused due to activity but improves with rest. You may experience pain in your inner (medial) knee. You may also feel slight inflammation, weakness, or a grinding sensation.
What is the Treatment?
- Weight management
- Practising non-weight bearing exercises
- Consumption of cartilage and bone-building nutrients that may include calcium, vitamin K, glucosamine, or chondroitin.
- Anti-inflammatory medications
- Walking on soft floors
- Choose soft-sole shoes
- In severe conditions, your doctor may choose to perform arthroscopic surgery to eliminate impaired and swollen tissue.
Though these treatments are effective but taking precautions is highly recommended. You should always consume anti-inflammatory medicines and food and avoid strenuous activities to reduce pressure on the knees.
