What is arthritis?
By John Chow, of Tao of Tai
Chi Chuan Institute,
Written 2002.
Arthritis is a collective name for many disorders of painful joints. Although it is very common, arthritis is not a very well defined medical condition, and not much is known about in Western medicine. Extensive research in the past 3 decades have yielded little, and is still continuing. However, because it is so prevalent, management of arthritic conditions is reasonably efficient in modern medical science.
The symptoms and signs of arthritis can be variable and vague. It can be aggressively acute, or it may be quite mild. It can be crippling. Mild arthritis includes mildly inflamed joints, mild pain, mild fatigue, and minimal limitation in range of movement and function.
The good news about arthritis is that early treatment may retard or even arrest the progress of the disease. In addition, its debilitating effects can be effective managed in many cases with the correct application of medicine, and therapeutic exercises.
Where does arthritis
manifest?
Arthritis manifests in various
parts of the body – most commonly in the joints of the fingers, thumbs, wrist,
elbows, shoulders, knees, hips, MTP joints of the feet, neck and lower
spine. It may manifest as pain in the
muscles (not medically classified as rheumatoid arthritis, but is practically
included as arthritis). Thus, any program that purports to relieve
arthritis must cover at least these areas.
Common types of arthritis
Osteoarthritis is a common form of arthritis in which
the joint tissue wears down and degenerates. It is characterised by articular cartilage
erosion, sclerosis (thickening) of the bone underneath the cartilage, and the
formation of osteophytes (bone spurs).
It involves deterioration of cartilage of bones
often due to "wear and tear".
It may involve bone hypertrophy and spurring. Joints are painful, stiff, crackling
(crepitus), enlarged, deformed, swollen from fluid retention, with inflammation in advanced stages. The pain can be mild dull aching to deep
sharp throbbing pain. In the initial
stages, minor ache is felt when the
joint is used or stressed, and this ache disappears with rest. When the disorder has progressed without
proper treatment, even minor usage may
elicit sharp pain. Eventually, aches can be felt even when the joint is not
in use. In severe cases, this pain
occurs during bedtime, making sleep
uncomfortable.
Osteoarthritic joints are often
stiff, especially in cold damp
weather, or after a period of
inactivity - such as sleep, or sitting for long periods. Initially, such stiffness can be relieved by
stretches, warm-ups, and various exercises.
as the disorder progresses without proper treatment, relief becomes less and less, until flexibility is permanently lost.
Osteoarthritis may trike any joint in
the body, and in no particular
order. It usually does not strike
symmetrically.
The exact cause of osteoarthritis is
not well determined in Western allopathic medicine. It is suspected that genetics and obesity are
contributing risk factors.
It is suspected that it may develop due to excessive stress or load on joint tissues. Examples are trauma, bruises, repetitive impacts, sprains, strains, joint dislocations, and fractures, long-term mechanical stress, and repetitive tasks. This is consistent with ONE of the several explanations of arthritis from traditional Chinese medicine.
Gout is painful swelling and inflammation caused by presence of uric acid crystals. It is often an acute attack coming on suddenly. Severe pain and swelling may develop in the affected joint within 12-24 hours. The skin over the joint may be red and shiny.
Gout usually affects only one or two joints at a time - most often the feet and ankles. The ball of the big toe is the commonest site. Initially, the attack subsides in a week or so without treatment and there may be intervals of months or even years between attacks. As time goes by, attacks tend to become more frequent and severe, and eventually many joints may be involved, sometimes all at the same time. In advanced stage, continuous joint disease may develop with progressive joint damage, disability and crippling. Gout affects mostly men and is very rare in women until after the menopause.
Infectious arthritis is caused by micro-organisms causing infection to joint tissue.
Rheumatoid arthritis is joint damaged caused by
auto-immune processes involving inflammation of a joint's
connective tissues, such as the synovial membranes,
which leads to the destruction of the articular
cartilage. It often strikes
symmetrically. Accompanying symptoms can
be stiffness, joint pain, ‘rheumatoid nodules, muscle pain, low appetite,
weakness, fatigue, fever, anaemia, weight loss and Sjögren’s syndrome.
Additional symptoms are skin ulcers and general poor health. People with severe rheumatoid arthritis are
more susceptible to infection.
Advanced symptoms include damage to cartilage, tendons,
ligaments and bone, which causes deformity in the joints.
The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is currently is unknown in Western allopathic medicine. Some argue that we do not understand it much yet because it could be a collective name of several disorders. Some also argue that there probably isn’t an exact cause because of this. Researchers are still debating whether it is one disease or several different diseases with over-lapping features.
Because of the multi-faceted presentation of rheumatoid arthritis, treatment must be tailored to the individual, taking into account the severity and individual lifestyle. Current treatments focus on reducing pain and inflammation, stopping or slowing joint damage, improving joint function, and psychological counselling.
Collagen disease is due the body’s auto-immune system attacking its own collagen-containing tissues. eg., systemic lupus erythematosus and dermatomyositis.
Arthritis and oriental medicine and martial arts
medicine
Another form of disorder which manifests as muscle and joint ache which is not caused by auto-immune mechanism, is practically and conveniently classified as rheumatoid arthritis by some because it involves muscle tissue, although it is not rheumatoid arthritis by the strict medical definition. This a chronic condition which is usually exacerbated by damp, or stormy weather.
This last category of “rheumatoid arthritis” is very well known in Oriental medicine (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Indian, Malay, Indonesian, Cambodian, Thai etc), which have extensive theories on the cause and treat of such a disorder. One reason is that such countries have a long and continuous history of martial arts in which their masters and practitioners treat their traumatic injuries and bruises with herbal and mineral medicines with great effect. These practitioners use methods that have accumulated and been tested through hundreds and thousands of years - from the dawn of their civilisations.
In regard to this last category, it would be very wise indeed to pay attention to the methods and theories of “rheumatoid arthritis” of these ancient ones.
The theory and practice I have developed to treat arthritis is based on both modern Western medicine and ancient Chinese medicine (traumatology).
Interesting articles:-
Rheumatoid Arthritis: Description and Diagnosis” by
Rheumatoid arthritis 1.doc
Rheumatoid arthritis 2.doc
Rheumatoid arthritis 3.doc
Causes of Arthritis from Chinese Medical Perspective 1 by Yang Jwing Ming
Causes of Arthritis from Chinese Medical Perspective 2 by Dr. Ming of
Rheumatoid
Arthritis.doc
Tai_Chi_for_Arthritis by Martin Downs.html
Tai Chi Chi Kung for Arthritis.doc
Tips for finding a
suitable Tai Chi Chi Kung teacher for your arthritis.doc
Written by John Chow, a practitioner of Chinese medicine, acupuncturist, masseur,
healer and teacher of martial arts and spiritual paths in
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copied in any form without the permission from the author. For further information on this article,
please contact John Chow
at vajra_master@yahoo.com.
Legal caveat:-
The information provided above is
for general reference only. Although the author(s) has attempted to be
as thorough as possible in compiling the information in this article(s), no legal responsibility nor
liability is accepted for any errors or omissions. The information is presented
for educational purposes only. Please refer any medical matter to your doctor
before acting on any health-related information.