World Arthritis Day’ 2015: “It’s in your hands, take Actions”

Rahul, a 14-year-old boy from a very poor family of Bihar suffered from chronic pain and inflammation of the joints, making his life extremely difficult and restricting him to a wheelchair. After doctors in his native failed to detect the cause of his disease, he was brought to Paras Hospital, Gurgaon where his condition was diagnosed as Juvenile Inflammatory Arthritis.

After treatment at Paras hospitals, Rahul is now able to walk and plays like any other children of his age and leads an independent life.

When we think about Arthritis, the usual reference is to the age-related wear and tear of the joints that afflicts almost all the elderly people. However, there are other more pernicious, though rarer forms of Arthritis that needs urgent attention and awareness.

“Arthritis is often associated with old age and sometimes even neglected as an inevitable outcome of advancing age. The age-related wear and tear of joints is known as osteoarthritis. Though osteoarthritis is the predominant form of arthritis, it is not the only form. Unfortunately, there is glaring lack of awareness in India about other types of arthritis, some of which can afflict younger people. For example, Juvenile Inflammatory Arthritis is a rare auto-immune disorder that afflicts young children, and causes inflammation and pain in the joints. If left untreated, it can cause debilitating disability,” said Dr. Indrajit Agrawal, Head, Department of Rheumatology, Paras Hospital, Gurgaon.

On World Arthritis Day, Paras Hospital, Gurgaon highlighted some rare and difficult forms of the disease like Rahul’s which are very less talked about in our country. The good part is that most forms of the disease can be managed and controlled with timely medical intervention and patients can resume almost normal lifestyles with some care and caution provided the patient seek an early intervention with Rheumatologists.

30 year old, Michela is living with Spondyloarthropathy, a type of arthritis that attacks the spine as well as joints of arms and legs. In some people, it may also affect the skin, eyes and the intestines. The main symptom of the disease is low back pain which can be confused with a wide range of other disorders. This sometimes causes a delay in diagnosis. This condition mostly afflicts teenagers and young adults.

Relapsing Seronegative Symmetrical Synovitis with Pitting Edema is another rare arthritic condition that is most common in the elderly. This condition is characterized by inflammation and swelling of peripheral joints such as wrists and ankles symmetrically. Mrs. Suresh Khurana, 74 years old suffers from this disorder was also present at the press conference and discussed her condition.

There are more than 200 different types of arthritis and some of which like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing spondylitis can be devastating and crippling for the patients. However with the modern treatments including Biologics patients can be treated very successfully.  But, it is important to seek medical intervention as soon as symptoms arise