27 October 2008
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the joints and it’s a type III response. There are many pain medications available for arthritis, because it is very painful and gets in the way of everyday life, since joints are used everyday in mobility. The way to determine if a patient has rheumatoid arthritis is by doing a blood test or x-rays, in which they search for rheumatoid factor. The treatments involve anti-inflammatory drugs. Based on the review articles it seems as though there are many factors that are involved, so there is a lot of research going into the causes of inflammation in the synovial area. There are also reactive oxygen species that play a part in the cause for inflammation, including O2¬¬-. Also, over expression of TNF-α reduces the activity of SOD, which is important in converting O2- into H2O2. Thus, as a treatment SOD mimetics are used to decrease peroxynitrite activity, influx of neutrophils at inflammatory site, and the release of proinflammatory cytokines. Researchers are also studies looking into supplements that can alleviate pain. However, it’s important to study the relationship between treatments and supplements, because they can affect each other.
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8 comments:
I wanted to know if you knew the average age of people with RA. I always thought that arthritis is something that older people got. But I have a friend who has a younger brother who is 10 and he was diagnosed with RA about a year ago. It was kind of weird that he got diagnosed with RA, because nobody really expected it. He was just complaining that his joints hurt, but he plays football so everyone thought it was normal soreness. It wasn't until he was in so much pain that he was crying that they finally took him to the doctor. Is it common for someone that young to get RA? Also they thought his sister might have it too, but she just tested negative for it. Is there a genetic predisposition to get RA?
Hi Erin K495,
If you Google "juvenile rheumatoid arthritis" you may be in for a surprise.
What do you mean exactly by a type III response? Are any of the other diseases we have already looked at a type III response as well?
I didn't find an average age, but yeah I also thought it occurs in people who are older. I did Google that and was surprised that juveniles get it as well, so that was interesting.
Also, in terms of the types of responses, there are four types. There's type I which is related to allergies. Type 2 is autoimmune disorders. Type 3 is when there are immune complexes that are formed. Then type 4 is delayed type hypersensitivity, which involves cell mediated immune memory response. Also, it's important to know that inflammatory disease don't always fit into one of these categories, instead they can be both type 2 and 3 or something.
Also, in response to your other question, in class we’ve been over four types of immunological disease. I listed them below and they do correspond to the types of hypersensitivities.
Diabetes type 2 is a type 2 hypersensitivity reaction
Stroke – I’m not sure but I think it’s type 2
Inflammatory bowel disease is a type 2 hypersensitivity reaction
Rheumatoid arthritis is actually type 2 and 3
An example of type 1 hypersensitivity reaction is asthma and an example of type 4 is rejection to an allograft.
If your interested and want to learn more you should take Psio 431 with Dr. Cohen, which is called physiology of the immune system.
Also, this website explains the types of hypersensitivity really well.
http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/ghaffar/hyper00.htm
I was also wondering the age of people with RA and I found a site that gives a very basic, easy to understand definition and information on juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or JRA. JRA affects kids under age 16. These kids have arthritis in one or more joints. Many problems can cause pain and swelling of the joints, so a doctor will want to know how long these problems have been going on. To be considered JRA, a kid must have swelling and pain for at least 6 weeks. Although it has a similar name, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is not the same as the kind of arthritis that affects adults. Although some of the symptoms may be similar, JRA doesn't damage bones as quickly as the rheumatoid arthritis that affects older people.
There are three different kinds of JRA that can affect kids oligoarticular, polyarticualr, and systemic:
Oligoarticular JRA is the name that's used when four or fewer joints are affected. Usually larger joints such as a knee or ankle are affected by this type of JRA. Polyarticular JRA affects five or more joints. Although this kind of JRA usually involves large joints, such as knees, wrists, elbows, and ankles, small joints of the hands and feet are also often involved. Additionally, the joints of the neck (cervical spine) and jaw (temporomandibular joints) may also be affected. Polyarticular JRA is often symmetrical. Systemic JRA affects many parts of the body, rather than just a few specific places. A kid with this type of JRA may have swelling, pain, and limited motion in joints, as well as other symptoms. Rashes and high fevers that come and go can happen for weeks at a time. Other organs, such as the heart, lungs, and liver, can be affected.
The site goes on to talk about the cause, treatment, and other symptoms that can be associated with JRA if anyone is interested.
http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/bone/juv_
rheum_arthritis.html
Along with age of RA, I researched the sex and ethnicity factors of JRA. There is no gender preference for JRA, however, it is found that there's a female dominance of 3:1. As for race, it is the same in blacks and whites in the US but research has shown that it is higher in Native Americans. The article didn't go into detail about why Native Americans were shown to have a higher case of JRA.
http://books.google.com/books?id=FinMDEN_iDIC&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=ethnicity+and+juvenile+rheumatoid+arthritis&source=web&ots=EixXxlyIXl&sig=_NB19NPdayJGx2zDXcPNH2mTw9g#PPA3,M1
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