Arthritis Essay -- essays research papers fc

Arthritis is a general term for approximately 100 affections that produce any INFLAMMATION of connective tissues, particularly in knocks, or noninflammatory degeneracy of these tissues. The word means "joint turmoil," but because other structures are besides affected, the illnesss are often called connective tissue ailments. The terms rheumatism and rheumatoid diseases are also used. Besides conditions so named, the diseases include gout, lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, degenerative joint disease, and many others, among them the more recently identified LYME DISEASE. Causes of these disorders include immune-system reactions and the wear and inject of aging, while research indicates that the offensive system may often be equally involved. About one out of seven Americans exhibit round form of arthritis. INFLAMMATORY CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISEASES This varied group of diseases produces irritation in the connective tissues, particularly in the joints. The signs of firing off--warmth, redness, s salutarying, and pain--may be apparent. Microscopic test of the lesions reveals prominent blood vessels, abnormal accumulations of fair blood cells, and varying degrees of harm healing with scarring. In some diseases, the inflammation is clearly an immune reaction, the bodys plea against invading microorganisms. In others, the cause is different or unknown. Infectious Arthritis This disease is most common in young adults. Infection in a joint is usually caused by bacteria or other microorganisms that beleaguer the joint from its blood vessels. Within hours or a few long time the joint, usually the knee or elbow, becomes inflamed. There is an abnormal accumulation of synovial, or joint, fluid, which may be cloudy and contain large numbers of white blood cells. Gonococcal arthritis, a complication of gonorrhea, is the most common form of morbific arthritis. Treatment with antibiotics and aspiration of synovial fluid is usually promptly e ffective, and completely minor residual damage is done to the joint. Occasionally the infection is lengthen and produces joint destruction and requires surgery. Rheumatic Fever This is a form of infected arthritis caused by hemolytic streptococcus, a bacterium. Unlike typical infectious arthritis, however, the disease is most common in children aged 5 to 15 years, begins weeks subsequently the onset of the streptococc... ... certain adrenal cortical steroids are powerful inhibitors of inflammation, cyanogenetic side effects limit their usefulness. Similarly, drugs that inhibit proliferation of cells in the inflammatory citizenry have potentially severe side effects. Drugs that inhibit undesirable inflammation may also inhibit desired inflammatory responses. A leave is a high frequency of secondary infections. More specific therapy, for example, allopurinol and colchicine in gout, is dependent on knowledge of the precise biochemical mechanisms of disease pathogenesis. Researc hers are also studying the use of drugs that act on the nervous system. Despite the wear-and-tear origin of degenerative joint disease, it, too, may respond well to so-called anti-inflammatory drugs. Perhaps they are primarily acting as analgesics (pain-killers), or they may act by decreasing the secondary inflammation that follows joint trauma. Franklin Mullinax Bibliography Arthritis Foundation, Understanding Arthritis (1986) Kelley, William N., et al., eds., Textbook of Rheumatology, 2d ed., (1985) McCarty, Daniel F., ed., Arthritis and Allied Conditions, 11th ed. (1988) Moll, J. M. H., Rheumatology in Clinical Practice (1987).