ankylosing

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis of the spine. It causes inflammation (swelling) between your vertebrae (the bones that make up your spine) and the joints between your spine and pelvis. AS inflammation can cause stiffness and make it difficult to move and bend.

Symptoms of AS can range from mild to severe back pain. Over time, AS can fuse (grow together) your vertebrae, limiting movement and causing a hunched posture. In some people, AS can affect other joints or body parts.

There is no cure for AS, but early treatment can help manage symptoms, slow down the disease, and help you lead a more productive life.

Ankylosing spondylitis usually starts before age 45. Early symptoms may begin between the ages of 15 and 30. Your chance of developing AS can also increase if:

• You're a man. AS is more common and severe in men.
• You have a family history. If a member of your family has AS, you're more likely to get the disease.
• You have other medical conditions that may increase your risk of getting AS. These include Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or psoriasis.

No one knows what causes ankylosing spondylitis, but the environment and genes likely play a role. Your genes are parts of DNA in your cells that are passed down from your parents. Certain genes may increase your risk of getting the disease, but not everyone with these genes gets AS.

AS affects people differently. The most common symptom is pain and stiffness in the lower back and/or hips. The pain is usually worse during the night or after sitting for a long time.

Over time, AS may progress to other areas of your spine or body. Symptoms may depend on which areas of your body the disease affects. Some people have symptoms that come and go. Others may have severe, ongoing pain.

Other symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis may include:

• Pain, stiffness, and inflammation of the joints.
• Difficulty taking a deep breath. This could occur if the joints connecting the ribs are affected.
• Changes in vision.
• Fatigue.
• Loss of appetite.
• Weight loss.
• Skin rashes, such as psoriasis.
• Abdominal (belly) pain and loose stools (poop).

There is no single test for ankylosing spondylitis. To find out if you have AS your health care provider may:

• Ask about your medical history, including your symptoms.
• Ask about your family health history, including relatives who have had AS.
• Do a physical exam.
• Order blood tests or imaging studies.

AS has no cure, but treatment may help relieve symptoms, maintain posture, and slow down the disease. Since other parts of your body can be affected by AS, you will likely work with a team of health care professionals for tests, diagnosis, and care.

Treatment usually includes medicine to help relieve symptoms and keep the disease from getting worse, as well as physical therapy to improve mobility. If AS is severe, surgery may be needed.

You can help manage your AS symptoms if you:

• Exercise
• Monitor your symptoms
• Manage your stress
• Use assistive devices as needed
• Follow a healthy diet
• Stop smoking, or don't start

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease

If you feel pain and stiffness in your body or have trouble moving around, you might have arthritis. Any disorder that affects the joints is often called arthritis. Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee.

Most types of arthritis can cause joint pain and inflammation (swelling). Over time, a swollen joint can become severely damaged. Some kinds of arthritis can also cause problems in your organs, such as your eyes or skin. Treatment will depend on the type of arthritis you have.

Common types of arthritis include:

• Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It's often related to aging or injury.
• Autoimmune arthritis happens when your body's immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of this type of arthritis.
• Juvenile arthritis is a type of arthritis that happens in children.
• Infectious arthritis is an infection that has spread from another part of your body to the joint. Reactive arthritis is one type.
• Psoriatic arthritis affects people with psoriasis (itchy or sore scaly red and white skin patches).
• Gout is a painful type of arthritis that happens when too much uric acid builds up in your body. It often starts in the big toe. Other joints can also be affected.
• Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis of the spine that can cause stiffness and make it difficult to move and bend.

Pain, redness, warmth, and joint inflammation are common arthritis symptoms. You may not be able to move your joint as well as it should. Other symptoms could include fever, weight loss, breathing difficulties, or a rash.

Symptoms often get worse as you age. Some symptoms of arthritis may be signs of other illnesses.

A few things that might increase your chance of getting arthritis include:

• Family history. You may be more likely to get certain types of arthritis if a member of your family has the disorder.
• Age. The risk of getting many types of arthritis increases with age.
• Sex. Certain types of arthritis are more common in women, while other types are more common in men.

Other factors that might increase your risk of getting arthritis include having a previous joint injury, obesity, or lupus.

To find out if you have arthritis, your health care provider may:

• Ask you about your medical history, including your symptoms.
• Do a physical exam.
• Order blood tests or take x-rays.

Your provider may refer you to a rheumatologist (a doctor who specializes in arthritis care) for tests, diagnosis, and care.

Treatment depends on the type of arthritis you have. It may include medicine or surgery. Your provider will work with you to improve your symptoms and quality of life.

A few ways to help manage your symptoms include:

• Hot or cold packs
• Relaxation techniques
• Use of splints, braces, and/or assistive devices

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Fibromyalgia is chronic (long-lasting) condition that causes pain all over the body, fatigue, and other symptoms. There is no cure, but treatments can help with the symptoms.

The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown. Studies of the brains of people with fibromyalgia found that they seem to process pain differently than people who don't have it. They may feel pain when others do not, and they may also have a more severe reaction to pain.

Fibromyalgia can run in families, so genetics may also play a role. Other factors may also be involved, such as having certain diseases that cause pain.

Anyone can get fibromyalgia, but it is more common in:

• Women; they are twice as likely to have fibromyalgia
• Middle-aged people; your chance of having it increases as you get older
• People with certain diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or ankylosing spondylitis
• People who have a family member with fibromyalgia

The main symptoms of fibromyalgia are:

• Chronic (long-lasting) pain and stiffness all over the body. People often describe it as aching, burning, or throbbing.
• Fatigue and tiredness.
• Trouble sleeping.

Other symptoms may include:

• Problems with thinking, memory, and concentration (sometimes called "fibro fog")
• Muscle and joint stiffness
• Numbness or tingling in the arms and legs
• Sensitivity to light, noise, odors, and temperature

People who have fibromyalgia are also more likely to have certain diseases, including:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Headaches, including migraines
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Pain in the face or jaw, including disorders of the jaw know as temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ)

Fibromyalgia can be hard to diagnose. It sometimes takes visits to several different health care providers to get a diagnosis. One problem is that there isn't a specific test for it. And the main symptoms, pain and fatigue, are common in many other conditions. Providers have to rule out other causes of the symptoms before making a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. This is called making a differential diagnosis.

To find out if you have fibromyalgia, your provider:

• Will take your medical history, including asking detailed questions about your symptoms
• Will do a physical exam
• May order x-rays and blood tests to rule out other conditions

Not all providers are familiar with fibromyalgia and its treatment. You should see a provider or team of providers who specialize in the treatment of fibromyalgia.

There is no cure for fibromyalgia, so treatment focuses on relieving the symptoms. Providers usually use a combination of treatments, including medicines, lifestyle changes, talk therapy, and complementary therapies:

• Medicines
• Certain antidepressants and anti-seizure medicines, which may help with pain or sleep problems.
• Pain relievers.
• Lifestyle changes
• Getting enough sleep.
• Getting regular physical activity. If you have not already been active, start slowly and gradually increase how much activity you get. You may want to see a physical therapist, who can help you create a plan that is right for you.
• Learning how to manage stress.
• Learning to pace yourself. If you do too much, it can make your symptoms worse. So you need to learn to balance being active with your need for rest.
• Talk therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), can help you learn strategies to deal with pain, stress, and negative thoughts. If you also have depression along with your fibromyalgia, talk therapy can help with that too.
• Complementary therapies have helped some people with the symptoms of fibromyalgia. But researchers need to do more studies to show which ones are effective. You could consider trying them, but you should check with your provider first. These therapies include:
• Mindfulness meditation.
• Biofeedback, which uses electronic devices to measure body functions such as breathing and heart rate. This teaches you to be more aware of your body functions so you can learn to control them.
• Movement therapies such as yoga and tai chi.
• Massage therapy.
• Acupuncture.

Your backbone, or spine, is made up of 26 bone discs called vertebrae. The vertebrae protect your spinal cord and allow you to stand and bend. A number of problems can change the structure of the spine or damage the vertebrae and surrounding tissue. They include:

• Infections
• Injuries
• Tumors
• Conditions, such as ankylosing spondylitis and scoliosis
• Bone changes that come with age, such as spinal stenosis and herniated disks

Spinal diseases often cause pain when bone changes put pressure on the spinal cord or nerves. They can also limit movement. Treatments differ by disease, but sometimes they include back braces and surgery.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a form of arthritis that causes pain, swelling, and stiffness in your joints. RA is an autoimmune disease. Although it is most common in the wrist and fingers, this disease can cause your immune system to attack any joint tissue. The inflammation (swelling) that comes with RA can also affect other body parts. Inflammation could cause medical issues in your eyes, skin, heart, nerves, blood, or lungs.

RA differs from osteoarthritis, a common arthritis that often comes with age. RA affects the lining of your joints and damages the tissue that covers the ends of the bones in a joint. Eventually, this might cause your joints to not work as well.

There is no cure for RA, but early treatment can help you manage symptoms, reduce joint damage, and lead a productive life.

Rheumatoid arthritis can happen at any age, but your risk increases as you become an older adult. Your chance of developing RA can also increase if:

• You're a woman. Women are more likely to get RA than men.
• You have a family history. If a member of your family has RA, you're more likely to get the disease.
• You're a smoker.Smoking over a long period of time increases your risk of getting RA and how serious the disease can be.
• You have other medical conditions that may increase your risk of getting RA. These include obesity, gum disease, and lung disease.

No one knows what causes rheumatoid arthritis. A few things that might play a part in getting RA include:

• Your genes are parts of DNA in your cells that are passed down from your parents. Certain genes may increase your risk of getting rheumatoid arthritis, but not everyone with these genes gets RA.
• The environment, which includes things such as cigarette smoke, sometimes triggers RA symptoms.
• Hormones are chemical messengers in your bloodstream that control the actions of certain cells or organs. Researchers think that sex hormones might play a role in getting RA. Women are more likely to develop the disease, and RA symptoms may change during and after pregnancy.

Your immune system may start turning against your body's joints and tissues years before you notice any symptoms of RA. The changes from this type of immune malfunction usually settle in your joints.

RA affects people differently. You might have the disease for only a short time, or your symptoms might come and go. The severe form can be chronic (long-lasting) and may last a lifetime.

Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may include:

• Joint pain or stiffness when moving. This is usually worse in the morning or after inactivity. RA usually affects both joints. If one of your hands or knees is affected, so is the other.
• Joint tenderness, redness, and warmth.
• Joint swelling may make daily activities hard. These could include things such as combing your hair, buttoning your clothes, or bending your knees.
• Fatigue, fever, and a loss of appetite.
• Hard bumps (rheumatoid nodules) under your skin near the joints.

There's no single test for rheumatoid arthritis. The disease develops over time. At first, you may only have a few symptoms, making it hard to diagnose RA in its early stages. To find out if you have RA, your health care provider may:

• Ask about your medical history, including your symptoms.
• Ask about your family health history, including relatives who have had RA.
• Do a physical exam, which includes checking your joints, looking for rashes or nodules, and listening to your chest for signs of inflammation in your lungs.
• Order blood tests or imaging studies (x-ray or ultrasound) to make sure other health conditions aren't causing your symptoms since they may be like other types of arthritis and joint conditions.

Your provider may refer you to a rheumatologist (a doctor who specializes in arthritis care) for tests, diagnosis, and care.

There is no cure for RA, but early treatment can help prevent your symptoms from getting worse and damaging your joints. Treatment can include medicine, lifestyle changes, and surgery. These may slow or stop joint damage and reduce pain and swelling.

Your provider may use a combination of treatments. Your treatment may change based on your symptoms.

You can help manage your RA symptoms if you:

• Are physically active
• Keep a healthy weight
• Avoid injuries to your joints
• Avoid activities that have repetitive motions, like bending your knee over and over
• Stop smoking, or don't start

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases