Rheumatoid Arthritis

The term "suppurative arthritis" is a near synonym for septic arthritis. ("Suppurative" refers to the production of pus, without necessarily implying sepsis.)

ICD-10 uses the term "pyogenic arthritis". Pyogenic also refers to the production of pus.

Reactive arthritis refers to arthritis caused by an immune consequence of an infection, but not directly attributable to the infection itself.

The usual etiology of septic arthritis is bacterial, but viral, mycobacterial, and fungal arthritis occur occasionally. A broader term is "infectious arthritis", which describes arthritis caused by any infectious organism. Viruses can cause arthritis, but it can be hard to determine if the arthritis is directly due to the virus or if the arthritis is reactive.

Septic/suppurative arthritis and "bacterial arthritis" are sometimes considered equivalent, but there are exceptions. For example, Borrelia burgdorferi can cause infectious arthritis, but is not associated with suppurative arthritis. (Source wikipedia)

Osteoarthritis does not involve the production of puss at the site of the effected joint or joints.

In rheumatoid arthritis the body's own immune system attacks the joints and sometimes other organs in the body. We still don't understand why. Joints usually in the hands, wrists, elbows, knees or feet, on both sides of the body simultaneously swell and become painful and tender as a result The lining of the joints, the synovium swelling and becoming inflamed.

This is a chronic disease and once you are diagnosed with it you know it will be with you for life.

To date there has been no cure developed for it and the best you can hope for is that it goes into remission or responds well to treatment designed to control the damage cause by the illness.

It sounds a whole lot like Rheumatoid Arthritis, sometimes called RA. Google it and see if your symptoms are similar and if they are, see a doctor or RA specialist immediately. Quick intervention is key to stopping joint deterioration before it causes permanent damage and eventually deformation of the joints. My very healthy 61 year old mom suffered seemingly unconnected pains in her shoulders, neck, hips, feet & hands for 5 years prior to diagnosis. Initially, due to her problems gripping things, such as a coffee cup, she was diagnosed with regular arthritis and told to take Tylenol. Luckily, she didn't give up and was finally correctly diagnosed 5 years later. Hers was still considered mild when it was diagnosed and with treatment - steroids, then a monthly infusion similar in style but not drug to chemotherapy and methotrexate (not fun but necessary) she is almost pain free for 2 years now. She has to take a monthly Humira injection and stay on top of it, watch her stress levels because stress can cause the deterioration to begin again but it is effectively in "remission".

On the other hand my brother in law who was a lifelong heavy drinker was diagnosed shortly after he developed pain, he received similar treatment. Due to the nature of the medications for RA he was told he must stop drinking, he did not, he developed scerosis (sp) of the liver which was imminent anyway due to his lifestyle but the RA treatment helped it along, he survived less than a year and died two weeks before his 51st birthday from advanced liver cancer. Moral of the story, DO NOT DRINK with RA drugs!!

I wish you good luck in finding a correct diagnosis, please do not construe my answer as definitive medical advice, as I am only relating my experiences with RA which seems similar to what you are describing.

No, these drugs (disease modifying drugs) like methotrexate and plaquinil work by causing changes in the immune system that reduce its ability to cause the inflammation that causes the damage done in Rheumatoid arthritis. There is however no cure for RA so if you stop the treatment the inflammation starts again. every time the inflammation stars again more damage is done to the joints and associated tissue.

According to an article in the American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 155, No. 1 : 57-64

Copyright © 2002 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health there is. Follow the related link below(American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 155, No. 1 : 57-64)for more information on this article

Testosterone hormone that is found in both men and women is responsible for it, but women later gets low into it because of pregnancy and mensuration cycle. There are evidences that people who are low in testosterone hormone are more prone to rheumatoid arthritis.

So, this is the only genetic factor which is responsible for high rate of rheumatoid arthritis in women.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a 'systemic' disease- that is to say that it affects your whole body, not just the joints. Often, patients suffering from RA have a low haemoglobin level (also referred to as a low blood count) due to the substances released into the bloodstream and around the body having effects on the metabolism of iron and the manufacture of red blood cells in the bone marrow.

As such, low blood count tends to signify that your RA and the inflammation associated with it is fairly active at the moment. It is likely that with treatment of the RA the low blood count (anaemia, low hamoglobin) will improve.

Damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis can lead to a replacement of damaged joints.

Rheumatoid Arthritis can effect people of any age, However more older people suffer with it then younger.

It is also more likely to affect women then men and hits at about age 35 and beyond However even toddlers can be afflicted with it

For an explanation of the various reasons that people with RA are more likely to have or get anemia You should go to the Related link(Rheumatoid arthritis and Anaemia)

A high sedimentation rate (ESR) indicates inflammation in the body somewhere. The sedimentation rate wil not indicate the cause of the inflammation. However a chronic sedimentation rat can indicate an Autoimmune problem like rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid factor (RF or RhF) is an antibody that attacs an organism's own tissue. omos often found in About 80% of people with rheumatoid arthritis have detectable rheumatoid factor. Those who do not are said to be "seronegative".

Rheumatoid factor can also be a (antibody that precipitates on cooling of a blood sample); it can be either type 2 (monoclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG) or 3 (polyclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG)

There is evidence linking Both oseteo and rheumatoid arthritis with genetic predisposition. In other words there seems to be a predisposition to these diseases among family members.

ESR is of limited use as a screening test in patients that do not have any symptoms. It is used in the diagnosis of disorders such as polymyalgia rheumatica, multiple myeloma, temporal arteritis, various auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as chronic kidney diseases. In many of these cases, the ESR may exceed 100 mm/hour

It is commonly used for a differential diagnosis for Kawasaki's disease and it may be increased in some chronic infective conditions like tuberculosis and infective endocarditis. It is a component of the PDCAI, an index for assessment of severity of inflammatory bowel disease in children.

The clinical usefulness of ESR is limited to monitoring the response to therapy in certain inflammatory diseases such as temporal arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica and rheumatoid arthritis. It can also be used as a crude measure of response in Hodgkin's lymphoma. Additionally, ESR levels are used to define one of the several possible adverse prognostic factors in the staging of Hodgkin's lymphoma. There is also a wintrobe method.

The use of the ESR as a screening test in asymptomatic persons is limited by its low sensitivity and specificity. When there is a moderate suspicion of disease, the ESR may have some value as a "sickness index."

An elevated ESR in the absence of other findings should not trigger an extensive laboratory or radiographic evaluation.

(Sourced fromWikipedia)

I would start of by consulting a hematologist as consistently high ASO titre can indicate rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis results from the inflammation of the synovial membranes.