Psoriatic Arthritis is another form of arthritis that affects people with psoriasis. This is a chronic disease that is characterized by the inflammation of the joints, and the spine. The skin has a characteristic of patchy raised areas of the skin usually the hands and the feet, the skin is red, shinny and scaly.
Psoriasis commonly affects Caucasians, in fact health statistics show that there are two percent of Caucasians both males and female in the United States alone are suffering from psoriasis. Genetics and environment plays an important role in diagnosing psoriatic arthritis.
Though the causes of having this disease is still not known, doctors believe that this condition can be hereditary or that your body have been exposed with harmful bacteria and viruses in the environment, that is why this disease is triggered. Patients may also develop tendonitis and inflammation around the cartilage, lungs, and eyes. It can also damage the spine, chest bones, and the sacrum, making it hard for the patient to move.
Treatment of this disease is sometimes hard because psoriasis often precedes arthritis for months or even years, or vice versa. Among all patients with arthritis, patients with psoriatic arthritis have the highest emotional stress of all. Because they are not only dealing with the embarrassing fact that they have psoriasis, they also deal with the unending pain of having arthritis. As the pain and swelling flares, daily movements becomes a burden, it interferes with their work, social functions, daily activities and social life. Patients with this kind of disease may feel alone, withdrawn and stressed.
The main symptoms of psoriatic arthritis are joint pain, swelling, and stiffness of the muscles. It can affect any part of the body like spine, fingertips, wrist, and feet. Person with this disease also finds it hard to get up in bed in the morning, pain and stiffness usually occurs in the morning after waking up. Patients should be allowed 30 minutes to warm up the body and flex and stretch a little.
People suffering from this disease are easily tired especially in the early afternoon. The signs and symptoms may range from mild to severe disease flare-ups, with periods of remissions and recurrences, which are common among arthritis patients. Stress can trigger flare-ups it is important for patients who have this condition, to learn how to cope up with stress and learn some relaxation techniques.
To date, there is no cure for this kind of disease. Both psoriasis and arthritis are autoimmune disorder. This disorder occurs when the immune system of the body starts to attack healthy cells and tissues instead of harmful viruses and bacteria's. This causes an abnormality, which causes inflammation in the joints and over production of skin cells such as in the case of psoriasis. The medications that are available in the market today only target the swelling, inflammation, and pain.
Learning to cope with this condition is one way of disease management. Exercise and dietary modification is the key to cope up with the disease. Stretching exercises will help the patient in becoming more flexible and increase their strength.
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