Many people use the word “arthritis” to refer to all rheumatic diseases. However, the word literally means joint inflammation; that is, swelling, redness, heat, and pain caused by tissue injury or disease in the joint. The many different kinds of arthritis comprise just a portion of the rheumatic diseases. Some rheumatic diseases are described as connective tissue diseases because they affect the body’s connective tissue–the supporting framework of the body and its internal organs. Others are known as autoimmune diseases because they are caused by a problem in which the immune system harms the body’s own healthy tissues.
Examples of some rheumatic diseases are:
- Osteoarthritis- arthritis typically with onset during middle or old age that is characterized by degenerative and sometimes hypertrophic changes in the bone and cartilage of one or more joints and a progressive wearing down of apposing joint surfaces with consequent distortion of joint position and is marked symptomatically especially by pain, swelling, and stiffness — abbreviation OA; called also Degenerative Arthritis, Degenerative Joint Disease, Hypertrophic Arthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis- a usually chronic disease that is considered an autoimmune disease and is characterized especially by pain, stiffness, inflammation, swelling, and sometimes destruction of joints — abbreviation RA; called also atrophic arthritis
- Fibromyalgia- a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain, tenderness, and stiffness of muscles and associated connective tissue structures that is typically accompanied by fatigue, headache, and sleep disturbances — called also Fibromyalgia syndrome, Fibromyositis
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus- an inflammatory connective tissue disease of unknown cause that occurs chiefly in women and that is characterized especially by fever, skin rash, and arthritis, often by acute hemolytic anemia, by small hemorrhages in the skin and mucous membranes, by inflammation of the pericardium, and in serious cases by involvement of the kidneys and central nervous system — called also systemic lupus
- Scleroderma- a usually slowly progressive disease marked by the deposition of fibrous connective tissue in the skin and often in internal organs and structures, by hand and foot pain upon exposure to cold, and by tightening and thickening of the skin — called also Dermatosclerosis a usually slowly progressive disease marked by the deposition of fibrous connective tissue in the skin and often in internal organs and structures, by hand and foot pain upon exposure to cold, and by tightening and thickening of the skin — called also Dermatosclerosis
- Ankylosing Spondylitis- Rheumatoid Arthritis of the spine — called also Marie-Strümpell Disease, Rheumatoid Rpondylitis