Rheumatism Causes

Arthritis is a condition, which causes damage to the joints of the body. The word arthritis comes from Greek, where 'artho' stands for joint and 'itis' stands for inflammation. There are more than 100 different forms of arthritis. The two main types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, also known as rheumatism. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease, which is caused as a result of trauma to the joint, infection of the joint, or it can be simply due to old age. On the other hand, do you wonder, what is rheumatism? Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder, which may affect tissues and organs, but often attacks the synovial joints. It is the pathology of the disease process, which often leads to the destruction of articular cartilage and ankylosis of the joints. The other rheumatism symptoms are inflammation in the lungs, pleura, sclera, etc. There are numerous causes of rheumatism, out of which the most prominent one is autoimmune system, which has a pivotal role to play in the progression of the disease.

Causes of Rheumatism

It is seen, that rheumatism is three times more common in women as opposed to men. The onset of the disease is normally between the age of 40 and 50, however people of any age can be affected as well. The causes are often linked to the autoimmune system of the body, however the causes are still not completely known.

The white blood cells fight off any virus or bacteria, which attempt to attack the body. They float in the blood throughout the body, but when they move out of the blood stream and enter the membranes around the joints, they cause rheumatism. Therefore, instead of fighting off the intruders in the body, they irritate the membrane lining around the joints and pain. The immune system suddenly acts up when there are unexpected visitors from other parts of the body. Therefore, when the white blood cells make their way to synovium, the autoimmune system responds by creating inflammation in the joint area.

Toxic waste in the blood, concentrate around the joints and bones, and this is where they give rise to rheumatism. Food products like meat, white bread, sugar and refined cereals leave behind a lot of toxic waste in the body, which moves around the body and makes place for itself in the joints and give rise to rheumatism. Along with these food products, eating too much of acid forming foods is also harmful for the health of the joints and bones in the body. Artificial food items are also known to play a role in rheumatism.

Although research is still in progress on this, it is said that genetics also has a role to play in causing this condition, as it is commonly seen to have been passed onto the next generation as well. Hormonal imbalance can also lead to rheumatism, among many other things. If the gallbladder does not function as required, then it can lead to rheumatoid arthritis.

Like is the case with causes of rheumatism, the causes of palindromic rheumatism are also not known. It is also said to be caused by the autoimmune system of the body. One to three joints can be attacked in this condition and the knees, fingers and large joints are more vulnerable to palindromic rheumatism. However, it should not be confused with rheumatism, because palindromic rheumatism does not cause any significant damage to the bone and the soft tissue affected by it, is not closer to the joint, but away from the joint.

Since it is difficult to pinpoint any one of the rheumatism causes, the line of treatment also differs. A doctor may use different rheumatoid arthritis pain relief treatment and prescribe a different diet and/or exercise program to tackle the condition. It is also commonly seen, that a number of patients try out different doctors, before they settle onto any one of the doctor, who is able to take care of their condition.