and what are its causes, symptoms and treatment?
Rheumatism, “arthritis” or “rheumatic fever” is considered one of the most prominent diseases in cold weather and winter. The cold increases its severity, but the suffering varies from one patient to another.. But what do you know about rheumatic disease, and its causes? And what is its treatment?
What is rheumatic disease?
First of all, it is necessary to know that rheumatism has several definitions, some of them considered it an immune reaction that can follow inflammation of the pharynx or tonsils with bacteria called group A of the case streptococcus, after two to three weeks of infection of the tonsils or throat appears rheumatic fever, where This fever infects the joints with inflammation and may infect the heart muscle and lead to heart failure if not treated and affects the nervous system and usually affects children and adolescents.
Others considered it one of the chronic diseases that affect the joints, which is represented by inflammation of the joints and the tissues surrounding them (lining), which causes swelling in the affected joints, high temperature and sometimes pain.
Scientists have not yet arrived at the true cause of rheumatism, but many of them attributed the cause of the infection to a defect in the immune system (where the body’s immune cells begin to attack each other and the body’s natural cells, causing the so-called “autoimmune diseases”), and some of them attributed it to infection with one of the types of viruses .
Research has proven that women are more susceptible to rheumatism than men, and the age at which the disease can occur ranges from the age of twenty to sixty, and the possibility of people contracting the disease also varies according to the family’s health record, heredity, and tonsillitis in childhood.
Symptoms of rheumatism
Joint swelling, high temperature, and pallor.
Reducing joint movement as a result of pain resulting from joint roughness.
High body temperature, sometimes dehydration, loss of appetite, and imbalance in the shape of the joints, especially the joints of the fingers and toes, with a feeling of numbness.
The appearance of scars under the skin with redness in some places of the skin and sometimes inflammation of the symptoms of rheumatism, in addition to the pallor of the face.
The feeling of spinning when changing the position from standing and sitting, due to anemia that can affect the patient as a result of the lack of activity of the bone marrow, which manufactures red blood cells.
Some patients with rheumatism suffer from burning, itching and inflammation of the eyes.
The signs and symptoms of rheumatism begin to increase with the increase in physical stress, the patient''s weight, and an increased sense of cold.
rheumatism treatment
The treatment of rheumatism focuses on complete rest, taking aspirin and cortisone medications with a doctor’s advice, and using penicillin for at least five years after infection or for twenty years of age, in addition to focusing on warmth and staying away as much as possible from cold places.
