Tina Kunnath

 Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an inflammatory disease primarily attacking multiple joints in the body causing joint pain, swelling and stiffness causing irreversible damage of the joints leading to poor quality of life.

 Lupus is a chronic (long-term) disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system — the body system that usually fights infections — attacks healthy tissue instead.

Lupus most commonly affects your: 

• Skin
• Joints
• Internal organs, like your kidneys and heart

Because lupus affects many parts of the body, it can cause a lot of different symptoms.

 Bone density disorders involve abnormalities of bone metabolism. Bone metabolism is regulated by several hormones including parathyroid hormone (PTH), estrogen, testosterone as well as vitamins and minerals including calcium, Vitamin D, phosphate, and magnesium. Abnormal bone density can cause bone to be weakened and break easily. 

 Osteoarthritis (OA) also known as degenerative joint disease, is the most common form of arthritis, particularly amongst older individuals. OA affects millions of people around the world and is often deemed a ‘wear and tear’ arthritis. It is essentially the wearing down of the cartilage at the end of the bones and it primarily affects the joints such as knees, hips, spine and hands. Dull achy pain, stiffness, loss of flexibility, bone spurs and swelling are the most typical symptoms of OA. It is a degenerative disease which often can gets worse over time, especially in obese and overweight individuals due to excessive weight on load-bearing joints causing faster wear and tear of the cartilage. 

 Gout is commonly characterized by sudden onset severe pain, swelling and redness in the affected joints, frequently the big toe. It is caused by excess uric acid in the bloodstream. The symptoms often begin quite suddenly and if gout remains uncontrolled it can cause permanent joint damage and limit the normal movement of the affected joints, making everyday activities extremely painful. The definitive way to diagnose gout is to drain fluid from the affected joint and analyze it for uric acid crystals under a microscope. This is often not practical however if it is a small joint affected or multiple joints. In addition to medication, diet and lifestyle changes are very important in reducing the risk of recurrent gout.