Psoriatic Arthritis: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that is linked with a skin disease called psoriasis. Psoriasis is the inflammation of skin that causes patches of red, thick skin on specific parts of skin. Psoriatic arthritis mainly affects the tips of fingers and toes, and around the genital areas. It can also affect knees, spine, ankles, elbows and scalp.
Around 20-30 percent of the people who have psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis. Rarely, a person without psoriasis has psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis affects men and women equally. Psoriatic arthritis is difficult to diagnose in its earlier stages as it shows mild symptoms earlier. And by the time the disease is diagnosed nearly half of the people with psoriatic arthritis have bone loss.
Psoriatic arthritis may develop 15-20 years after psoriasis. Though psoriatic arthritis can develop at any time, it mainly appears in the people of age group 30 to 50.
Causes of Psoriatic Arthritis
Though the exact cause of psoriatic arthritis is still unknown, genetic factors may play an important role in development of this disease. Psoriatic arthritis is mainly caused due to psoriasis. The people who have psoriasis are at a higher risk of developing psoriatic arthritis. Certain changes in immune system may also be responsible for causing psoriatic arthritis. Sometimes environmental factors like bacterial or viral infections may cause psoriatic arthritis.
Symptoms of Psoriatic Arthritis
Some of the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis include:
- Joint tenderness
- Swollen joints
- Joint pain
- Joint stiffness
- Swollen fingers or toes
- Fatigue
- Morning stiffness
- Tiredness
- Nail changes or abnormalities like discoloration of nails, lifting of nails or pitting of nails
- Inflammation of eyes like iritic or conjunctivitis
- Eye pain
Treatment of Psoriatic Arthritis
Treatment of psoriatic arthritis includes a combination of medications and regular exercise. There is as such no cure for psoriatic arthritis. Medications are used only to control the progression of disease and reduce some of its symptoms. The main purpose of the treatment of psoriatic arthritis is to prevent joint damage and reduce joint pain and swelling.
The treatment of psoriatic depends upon the causes and symptoms of the disease. Some medications that are highly used for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis include:
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): These meditations help in relieving some symptoms of psoriatic arthritis like joint pain, swelling and morning stiffness. NSAIDs include group of medications like ibuprofen, aspirin, clinoril, indocin, voltaren and advil. Long-term use of these medications may cause gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers. It may also upset your stomach or intestine. Other side effects caused by these medications include kidney damage, fluid retention and heart failure.
Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs): These medications not only reduce the symptoms of joint pain and inflammation but also control the amount of joint damage. DMARDs include hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate and sulfasalazine. For best results you have to take these medications for a long time as it shows its effect slowly.
Corticosteroids: These medications are generally recommended in the case of mild psoriatic arthritis. They help in controlling infrequent joint pain flares. These medications can be either taken orally or in a form of injection. They are directly injected into the paining parts. In order to avoid the damage caused due to injections they are used in a limit.
Immunosuppressant medications: These medications are used in cases of severe psoriatic arthritis. These medications work by suppressing the immune system and protecting our body from harmful organisms. These medications include leflunomide, azathioprine and cyclosporine. These medications can cause serious side effects like liver and kidney damage therefore should be taken only in case of sever psoriatic arthritis.