Since the topic for the next two weeks is arthritis I did
some research on it and the different types. According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), arthritis means joint inflammation, but
in the public health world, the term is used to describe more than 100
rheumatic diseases that affect joints, the tissues which surround the joint and
other connective tissue. Rheumatic conditions are usually characterized by pain
and stiffness in and around one or more joints. Certain rheumatic conditions
can also involve the immune system and various internal organs of the body.
The CDC lists childhood arthritis, fibromyalgia, general
arthritis, gout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus
as the most common forms of arthritis. Since osteoarthritis and rheumatoid
arthritis are the two types that are talked about in the articles this week, I
will go into some detail about them.
Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative joint disease
and is characterized by the degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone
within a joint as well as bony overgrowth. The breakdown of these tissues
eventually leads to pain and joint stiffness. The joints most commonly affected
are the knees, hips, and those in the hands and spine. Disease onset is gradual
and usually begins after the age of 40. There is currently no cure for
osteoarthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic autoimmune inflammatory
disease which manifests itself in multiple joints of the body. The inflammatory
process primarily affects the lining of the joints, but can also affect other
organs. The inflamed synovium leads to erosions of the cartilage and bone and
something joint deformity. This leads to pain, swelling, and redness. The cause
of rheumatoid arthritis is believed to be from a faulty immune response. It can
begin at any age and there is also no cure for this type of arthritis.
"Arthritis."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Aug. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.
Although there is no current “cure” for these debilitating diseases, there are many ways to reduce the symptoms. Perhaps the most counterintuitive method would be to exercise on a regular basis. While arthritic pain may call for the exact opposite, there is evidence that certain moderate exercise can significantly improve joint function. Thinning bones is another issue associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Through exercise, bones are kept strong and pain is reduced as well. This form of treatment also applies to osteoarthritis. Of course, heavy lifting and high impact activities such as jogging on concrete should be kept to a minimum as this may further aggravate the disease. It’s ironic how even in diseases that severely limit physical activity, physical activity has been shown to help relieve the symptoms. I suppose this continues to hammer in the point that exercise can be the best medicine.
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ReplyDeleteI recently saw this article on Science Daily about a genetics study that actually relates many of our inflammatory diseases to evolution! There's a possibility that it includes the Crohn's disease that we recently talked about and even our upcoming discussion on rheumatoid arthritis.
The website provides a brief overview of what the basis of the study shows; that in the past, the genes coding for our immune defenses were altered to defend against all the various pathogens. And now, with our developing society which is a lot cleaner, we get bad responses like this autoimmune response of rheumatoid arthritis.
Overall, there seems to be a trend. That no matter what inflammatory disease, it all leads back to the very genes that code our immune system, and how they are phenotypically expressed nowadays. It will be interesting to read and discuss this week, on how researchers are approaching this arthritis problem, compared to others.
When reading your summary on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), I started to wonder about the unknown onset of the disease past the genetic autoimmunity involved in RA. In the review article we received named "Cytokines in the Pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis" the authors stated "the crucial triggers for the onset of articular disease are unknown but they probably include biomechanical
ReplyDeletefactors, neuroimmunological interactions and
altered articular microvascular function." They then mentioned most recent studies that suggest smoking as a worthy environmental risk factor for RA onset.
I was wondering if maybe you (or anyone for that matter) knows of what in ciggarettes actually triggers the initiation of RA? After doing a little research, I was unable to find a specific answer, which lead me to think about the various chemicals in cigarettes. Menthol cigarettes containing the menthol chemical crossed my mind as I've heard that the menthol is somewhat beneficial (in the realm of smokers) and wondered maybe if it would play a role in the onset of RA.
I found a paper mentioning menthol being a possible inhibitor for nicotine synthesis, which was interesting because I would guess nicotine would be a target chemical for RA that is associated with smoking. Do you think menthol could play a possible beneficial role in RA associated with smokers?
Paper mentioning smoking triggers RA:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17143096
Paper mentioning benefits of menthol:
http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/310/3/1208.abstract
I tried to find other articles that talk about why smoking causes rheumatoid arthritis and the paper you mentioned seemed to have the most information. It explains that active smoking has been shown to be a risk factor mainly in rheumatoid factor (RF) positive but not RF negative rheumatoid arthritis. The risk is also increased in people carrying some allelic forms of the major histocompatibility antigens, specifically HLA-DRB1 SE. They talk about another study that shows HLA-DRB1 SE and smoking were risk factors for anti-citrulline positive, but not anti-citrulline negative rheumatoid arthritis.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if menthol could play a possible beneficial role in RA associated with smokers or not. It would be interesting to investigate, but the paper I was talking about above didn't say anything about nicotine because what causes RA so I'm not sure if it would make a difference or not.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17143096