Health Finds: Looking toward Better Health

Psoriatic Arthritis – Inflammation in those Areas Affected with Psoriasis

By Chitraparna Sinha

Patients who suffer from psoriasis develop psoriasis arthritis. The formation of this arthritis is slow and it progresses swiftly. Psoriatic arthritis is the development of inflammation in those areas affected with psoriasis. There is no exact cause of this problem but most recent studies suggest its association with genetic mutations.

In symptoms and structure, this resembles rheumatoid arthritis. The chances for this disease development stand at 5% of the people who suffer from psoriasis. Usually people in the age group of 30-60 years are more vulnerable.

There are 5 common variants of psoriatic arthritis:

1. Asymmetric Inflammatory Arthritis – this affects the joints and swelling is seen in fingers and toes.
2. DIP Joints Inflammation – this affects the finger joints on the last rows.
3. Associative with Rheumatoid Arthritis – the symptoms in the patients are similar to rheumatoid arthritis but when they are checked, there is hardly any trace of rheumatoid factor in the blood.

1. Spondylitis – almost 20% of psoriatic arthritis affected patients develop inflammation of spine later in life. Symptoms like stiffness, lower back pain, neck pain, limited spine mobility are common factors.
2. Arthritis Mutilans – the worst kind in psoriatic arthritis as it can lead to deformity or disability in hands and feet. This is also referred to as ‘destructive arthritis’.

The symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of psoriatic arthritis vary with the types above. Since it is psoriasis essentially, the patient will experience skin diseases too in private / hidden areas such as armpits, buttocks, scalp, elbows, and between thighs.

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