Rheumatism comes from the Greek root "rheuma". It means "flow" or "movement". It refers to pain, swelling, redness, heat increase or restriction of movement in bones, muscles and joints.
What are the Causes of Rheumatism?
The general cause of rheumatism is wear and tear of the joints.
- Joints are structures that connect one bone to another, allowing the bones to move freely.
- At the end of the bones, the joints are covered with a hard, rubbery material called cartilage. As we age, this articular cartilage becomes more easily damaged by frequent use or after injury.
- Weakness in the joints causes the immune system to target those parts. In the long term, other tissues can also be affected. However, joints are usually the most affected parts. The exact factors that cause this condition are not known.
- Some researchers argue that infection with viruses or bacteria triggers the disease.
- The main cause of rheumatic pain is that the immune system attacks healthy tissues (autoimmune).
What are the symptoms of rheumatism and arthritis?
The symptoms largely depend on the type of arthritis or rheumatism you have. In general, however, the following symptoms may suggest that you have arthritis or rheumatism:
- Swelling in one or more joints,
- Stiffness around the joints,
- Redness and increased temperature in the joints,
- Persistent or recurrent pain in the joints,
- Difficulty moving or using the joint.
While any joint in the body can be affected, the knees, fingers and hips are most commonly affected.
If you have rheumatoid arthritis;
- Mild fever,
- loss of appetite and weakness,
- Arthritis symptoms tend to worsen in the morning, sometimes in cold and damp weather.
How many types of rheumatism are there?
There are basically 2 types of rheumatism;
1. Inflammatory ones, rheumatic inflammation has 3 types:
- Microbial rheumatism, which occurs when microbes sit in the joint: Various microbes such as staphylococci, streptococci and tubercle bacilli cause this rheumatism.
- Non-microbial inflammation caused by a defective immune system: The most important rheumatisms caused by this type of inflammation are rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and collagen diseases, which cause diffuse connective tissue inflammation. The best-known example of this last group is systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
- Another type of inflammation is inflammation caused by uric acid and other crystals sitting in joints and various tissues and irritating them. Gout and pseudo-gout have this type of inflammation.
2. Non-inflammatory rheumatism
The most important of these rheumatisms is arthrosis or arthritis. In arthrosis, there is no inflammation in the joint. Instead, there is wear and tear. The cartilage inside the joint becomes thinner and disappears, and bone spurs form on the edges of the joints. Trauma (accident, impact), mechanical causes, metabolic and psychological disorders are the most important causes of non-inflammatory rheumatism.
What are the risk factors and who is at risk?
Rheumatism can affect anyone at any age, although women are more likely to develop these diseases than men. Both sedentary people, i.e. those who use their muscle joints very little, and those who use their joints excessively are at risk for musculoarticular disease.
