Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases
These are diseases in which the immune system is overactive and mistakenly attacks healthy organs and tissues of the body itself. The main autoimmune rheumatic diseases are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, lupus, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma, myositis, and vasculitis.
Several of these diseases are more common in women, and it is believed that female hormones, estrogen, are responsible. There are genetic factors that contribute to their development. In addition to genetic factors, there are also environmental risk factors, such as smoking (especially for rheumatoid arthritis).
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints and can cause irreversible damage to them. For this reason, early initiation of treatment after diagnosis is important. Smoking is a risk factor that significantly increases the likelihood of someone developing rheumatoid arthritis, especially in individuals with first-degree relatives with the disease. The joints are affected with pain, swelling, and morning stiffness, and the small joints in the hands and feet are most often affected. The goal of treatment is to achieve complete remission of symptoms and inflammation and to prevent damage and loss of joint function. Rheumatologist Athens - Glyfada
Psoriatic Arthritis
It is a chronic inflammatory arthritis that occurs in 30% of people with psoriasis. The picture often resembles rheumatoid arthritis with involvement of many joints and other times it appears as oligoarthritis. Psoriatic arthritis can also affect the spine with low back pain and stiffness. There are now several treatment options available: conventional antirheumatic drugs, biological agents such as TNF inhibitors, IL-17 inhibitors, IL-12/23 inhibitors, IL-23 inhibitors, and JAK inhibitors. In addition to medications, weight loss is recommended for overweight/obese individuals and regular exercise.