Rheumatic diseases affect your joints tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles. Among them are many types of arthritis, a term used for conditions that affect your joints.
Sometimes they’re called musculoskeletal diseases. Common symptoms include:
- Joint pain
- Loss of motion in a joint or joints
- Inflammation -- swelling, redness, and warmth in a joint or affected area
The medical field that studies these types of conditions is called rheumatology. If your regular doctor thinks you have a rheumatic disease, he’ll probably send you to a rheumatologist — a doctor who’s specially trained to treat them.
Your rheumatologist will examine you to diagnose your condition, then oversee a treatment plan for you that will likely include medications, regular exercise, a healthy diet, stress management, and rest.
Common Rheumatic Disorders:
Years ago, conditions like this fell under the broad heading of rheumatism. Now there are more than 200 distinct rheumatic diseases. Among the most common ones are:
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
- Lupus
- Spondyloarthropathies -- ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA)
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- Gout
- Scleroderma
- Infectious arthritis
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- Polymyalgia rheumatic