what is rheumatism?

What is rheumatism?



When you feel pain in muscles, joints and tendons without explanation, then it is commonly referred to as "rheumatism". This name originally comes from the Greek and can be translated as "scroll". In ancient medicine it was believed that rheumatism was caused by pathogenic substances that flowed in the body.

Rheumatism - in medicine the correct definition is "rheumatic diseases" - is not in itself a diagnosis, but a generic term that includes over 100 types of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. To unite them are the pains and limitations at the motor level that mostly follow. For the rest, the different rheumatic diseases have very different characteristics. They are therefore divided into different groups, the number of which is variable, since there is no rule that allows a uniform classification to be drawn up. The generic term "rheumatism" includes for example diseases such as fibromyalgia as a frequent form of the so-called "soft-zone rheumatism". Rheumatic diseases do not only affect the "hard" structures, such as bones, joints or cartilages, but also "soft" parts such as muscles, ligaments or tendons. Also arthrosis, gout and erythematous lupus fall among the rheumatic forms.

What is rheumatism?

Rheumatic diseases are not limited to the locomotor system. Almost all organs can be affected by an inflammatory rheumatic disease. There are, for example, rheumatic inflammation of the eyes, pleura, heart muscle and rheumatic inflammation of the kidneys, intestines, vessels or nerves. One possibility is their subdivision into 5 groups.

Autoimmune diseases

On the one hand there are autoimmune diseases. There is talk of autoimmune disease when the immune system perceives parts of its body as foreign bodies to fight. By combating your organs with the immune system you have painful inflammatory reactions.

At least since the TV series Dr. House the Lupus should be known to everyone. Yet in Switzerland, with only 2,000 people affected, it is only an infrequent autoimmune disease. The situation of arthritis is different. In Switzerland as many as 70,000 people suffer from this autoimmune rheumatic disease. Most of them are women, who tend to get arthritis three times more often than men. Chronic inflammation of the joints is in step parts with severe pains and limitations in terms of motor skills. However, rheumatoid arthritis should not be confused with osteoarthritis, which also affects the joints, but falls into the category of degenerative rheumatic diseases.

One percent of the European population contracts Bechterew's disease. The autoimmune disease, also known as ankylosing spondylitis, affects the spine and causes growths and stiffness.

Degenerative diseases

Degenerative diseases constitute the majority of rheumatic diseases. This is the slow but progressive excessive wear of the articular cartilage, following which at a certain point the bones rub directly against each other, causing severe pain and limiting the motility of the person concerned. The general term for defining this type of rheumatic disease is arthrosis. This name is integrated according to the articulation involved.

arthrosis

Metabolism disorders

Also the metabolic disorders, which go hand in hand with rheumatic disorders, fall into rheumatic diseases. Among the best known forms of rheumatism that fall into this category is gout. This inflammatory joint disease, known by the technical term of uricopathy, is widespread especially among men. It comes from a so-called hyperuricemia, or an excessive concentration of uric acid in the blood in circulation. Hyperuricemia always manifests when the balance between the formation and elimination of uric acid from the body is compromised. This is due, on the one hand, to causes of a genetic nature, on the other to nutrition.


always when the balance between formation and elimination of uric acid from the body is compromised. This is due, on the one hand, to causes of a genetic nature, on the other to nutrition.

Rheumatism of the soft parts

Instead of "rheumatism of the soft parts" one can also speak of extra-articular rheumatism. This includes rheumatic diseases that do not affect "hard" structures such as bones and joints, but tendons, nerves, ligaments, muscles or connective tissues.

fibromyalgia

A distinction is made between generalized and localized soft-tissue rheumatism. The latter is talked about when a specific part of the body is affected. In the first case the pains manifest themselves instead in a distributed manner throughout the body. There is also talk of fibromyalgia. It is a very difficult disease to diagnose, as the affected people complain of widespread chronic pain but also depression and sleep disorders. It often lasts many years, if not decades, until a diagnosis can be made. Unfortunately there are no precise figures on the number of Swiss affected, although there are about 40,000 to 400,000 people.

Signals and symptoms

Rheumatic diseases occur in so many forms, that their signs and symptoms also manifest themselves in very different ways.
autoimmune rheumatic diseases

In autoimmune rheumatic diseases the first signs are mostly still very widespread. The affected people complain of tiredness and fever. Concrete signals are the swelling and inflammation of the joints. In the case of arthritis in the beginning these mostly affect the fingers and toes, which are also painful at rest and react sensitively to pressure. Often the affected joints warm up, sometimes they can also be partly reddened. To this is added the morning stiffness, due to which it is not possible to move the affected joints for at least half an hour after getting up. Over time, other joints are added, such as the elbows or the knees, so the inflammation spreads on the tensinovial sheaths and on the serous bags.

Arthrosis initially manifests itself with pains of overload and fatigue as well as with pain associated with the beginning of the morning movement. Subsequently these disorders become a continuous pain. Other indicators of arthrosis may be the swelling and heating of the joints. It may also happen that they creak or snap, which, however, can also occur in the presence of healthy joints.

The rheumatism of the soft parts manifests itself with widespread muscular pains near the joints in both halves of the body. The affected persons perceive the symptoms in some cases as strong cramps or as a heavy coat. Also in this case it is often observed morning stiffness. The list of other symptoms is long and diverse: it includes among other sleep disorders, fatigue, performance weakness, cold hands and feet, impaired vision and hearing, depression, dizziness and breathing problems.

A gout attack manifests itself in an acute inflammation of the joints associated with acute pains, which mainly affect at night. First of all it is the big toe, which takes on a swollen and reddened appearance and is extremely sensitive to touch. Often an attack of this type is due to nutrition and manifests itself after a hearty dinner of meat. If the uric acid concentration in the blood is high for long periods, these attacks occur at shorter intervals and the gout becomes chronic.