World Arthritis Day (WAD), is observed as a global awareness day held every year on 12 October. It aims to help raise awareness in all audiences across the world of the existence and impact of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease(RMDs).
The theme for 2023 is "Living with an RMD at all stages of life." A global call to remind that RMDs is a lifelong journey that impacts the patient's life and their care givers, thereby reducing quality of life.
Why are RMDs important?
RMDs are among the most prevalent, disabling, burdensome, and costly non-communicable diseases and this hidden crisis impacts the lives of over 120 million people of all ages in Europe alone. While healthcare has become a very visible topic of international discussion due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RMDs remain largely unknown and unaddressed throughout Europe and beyond, despite their seriousness and prevalence.
What is arthritis?
Arthritis generally refers to inflammatory diseases that occur in human joints and surrounding tissues and are caused by inflammation, infection, degeneration, trauma or other factors. It can be divided into dozens of categories, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and gouty joints. Yan et al.
5 areas prone to arthritis
Hip joint
When a disease occurs in the hip joint, you will feel pain on the inner thigh of the groin or on the outer side of the hip. In severe cases, the patient may walk with a limp.
Knee joint
If you feel soreness and pain in your knee joints when going up or down stairs or squatting, and sometimes you may experience friction or a feeling of being stuck, this indicates that osteoarthritis may have affected your knee joints.
Hand joints
Swelling and pain in the joints of both hands, accompanied by morning stiffness or enlargement of the distal interphalangeal joints, making it particularly difficult to bend, and pain from time to time. These are all signs that the hand joints are damaged, and there may be rheumatoid arthritis or hand osteoarthritis. .
Foot joint
When foot joints suffer from arthritis, it is common for the large joint on the palm of the big toe to feel pain. This pain will be aggravated if tight or high-heeled shoes are worn. Red, swollen, hot and painful big toe joints on one side may be gout, and enlargement of the big toe joints on both sides may be osteoarthritis.
Spinal joints
When there is a problem with the spinal joints, it will cause pain and stiffness in the neck and waist. Such as lumbar disc bulge, lumbar bone hyperplasia, ankylosing spondylitis, etc.
Who is at high risk for arthritis?
Sedentary people
For people who sit for long periods of time, the muscles and ligaments around the knee joints will become weak, and joint stability and coordination will decrease, thereby aggravating knee joint injuries and pain.
Obese people
Excessive body fat will increase the burden on the joints and increase the risk of arthritis.
Mobile phone party
People who often use mobile phones can easily induce tenosynovitis because their fingers perform the same movement for a long time. Tenosynovitis is closely related to joint overstrain and often occurs in the palm joints and the base of the thumb.
Special professional groups
Special occupational groups such as professional athletes, miners, and photojournalists are prone to knee and elbow osteoarthritis if they remain in a semi-crouching or squatting position for a long time.
How to self-test if you have arthritis?
Red
In the acute stage of arthritis, joint redness and swelling often occur, and the local skin temperature is high.
Swell
Swelling is a common symptom of arthritis and indicates an acute onset of arthritis, but it is not necessarily related to the degree of joint pain.
Stiff
Joint stiffness in the morning, which can be relieved after exercise, often indicates that it is related to the cervical spine. If morning stiffness lasts for more than half an hour, be alert to the possibility of rheumatoid arthritis.
Hot
Because the joints have very little blood supply, they should feel close to body temperature under normal circumstances. If the joint skin temperature increases or even becomes hot, it indicates joint inflammation.
Pain
Pain is the main manifestation of arthritis. Joint pain can be caused by various reasons. If it is accompanied by redness, swelling and heat, you need to seek medical treatment in time.
Doctor's Tips
If the above clinical symptoms occur, you need to seek medical treatment promptly to determine whether you have arthritis.
How is arthritis diagnosed?
Physicalexam
X-ray
Joint fluid
Blood or urine testing
Blood tests, such as hematuria, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein(CRP), biochemistry, liver function, kidney function and blood routine, etc.
Can arthritis be treated？
Currently, there is no cure for most of the RMDs, diagnosis is often delayed, and treatment should be adhered to for many years if not lifelong. This means regular check-ups with the rheumatologist and related team, in more severe cases hospital stays or surgery followed by rehabilitation and physiotherapy all taking considerable time and energy and leading to lots of uncertainty about the future for the individual.
As a result, RMDs have a huge impact on the quality of life of those affected. Without proper access to diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and social services, people with RMDs can face significant barriers in education, work life, relationships and founding a family, social life and daily activities. All of this is accompanied by chronic pain, side effects of medication, setbacks, fear, loneliness, depression and fatigue that influence the life not only of the person with the RMD but also of family members and caregivers.
How to protect joints and prevent arthritis?
Weight control
Losing weight can reduce the load on hip, knee and other lower limb joints in daily life and delay joint wear and tear.
Reasonable exercise
Exercise scientifically and rationally, control the total amount of exercise and short-term exercise increments, and adopt the principle of gradual increments.
Avoid overloading joints
Avoid sports that overload the joints. If joint wear has already appeared, you should try to avoid activities such as mountain climbing, squatting, kneeling, running, jumping and other activities for long periods of time.
Strengthen muscles around joints
Choose appropriate exercise methods, such as straight leg raises, wall squats, etc., to enhance muscle strength and joint stability around joints.
Avoid damage
Joint injuries can easily damage the meniscus, ligaments, and cartilage, leading to premature osteoarthritis.