Can Rheumatoid Arthritis Cause Urinary Problems

Uti Risk Factors And Treatment

The more you know about your risks for UTIs, the earlier you can identify any risk factors and symptoms. Urinary tract infections are caused by a buildup of bacteria in the urinary tract that can spread up to the bladder and kidneys. This risk may be increased by unprotected sex, sitting still for a long period of time, and wearing constricting fabrics. Once you have had one UTI, you are at elevated risk for getting more infections in the future . However, you can take steps to lower your risk as much as possible.

For postmenopausal women, signs of a UTI may look a bit different than for others experiencing UTIs. Look out for symptoms such as:

• General malaise

If you feel unwell, it is important to see your doctor as soon as possible, making your risk factors clear. Your medical provider should test to see if there is bacteria in your urine. If there is, and you are experiencing symptoms, you will likely be diagnosed with a UTI.

Typical treatment for a symptomatic urinary tract infection is antibiotics, which should be taken exactly as directed by a doctor, even if symptoms disappear part way through treatment. Taking the full course of antibiotics helps ensure that you do not leave some of the bad bacteria in your system, as that bacteria can become resistant to that antibiotic in the future. Postmenopausal women may also be treated with vaginal estrogen therapy, as estrogen has protective effects against infection.

Its An Invisible Disease In Its Early Stages

In the beginning, you wont look any different but willbegin to notice symptoms like stiffness, fatigue, and pain. Since you look asyou always have, your limitations and challenges wont be evident to outsiders.If you dont share your specific symptoms with loved ones, they will struggleto understand.

Underlying inflammation causes rheumatoid arthritis, whichmeans your physical and emotional health can be affected. The pain and fatiguecan mentally wear you down as the illness progresses. If your friends andfamily understand what youre going through, they can better support you.

You May Need Help From A Mental Health Professional

Some stress, anxiety, or depression is common with RA. Butit should be occasional and not a long-term symptom. If you find yourestruggling with these mental health symptoms, it is probably time to seek thesupport of a professional.

Youll know its time if youre experiencing regular anger, sadness,fear, or feelings of hopelessness. You might also notice that youve lostinterest in activities you normally enjoy or dont feel like yourself. Yourprimary care doctor or rheumatologist can refer you to a mental healthprofessional who has experience with RA patients.

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How Could A Simple Diet Change Cause So Much Improvement

Its important to remember that the initiation of autoimmune disease is legitimate in other words, initially, the immune system IS responding appropriately to a hostile invader, be it an infectious agent, food or toxin.

In the case of the above research, the diet change inadvertently had a good effect upon an infection. Read on

Exciting News Regarding Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune disease affecting over a million Americans. The immune system attacks the joints of the sufferer, causing pain and crippling deformities, commonly in the hands and feet.

Research proves the importance of diet, as well as isolating infectious agents when dealing with rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Back in 1999, a famous study was conducted whereby patients with RA were followed for a little over a year. The control group continued their typical diet while the experimental group followed a vegan diet for the first quarter of the study and then was switched to an ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet for the rest of the year.

Not surprisingly the control group felt no better, but the experimental group noticed significant improvement:

• Morning stiffness improved within the first month.
• The number of hours of stiffness was reduced by 50%.
• Subjectively they felt better
• Less swelling in their joints
• They lost an average of 13 pounds, which they kept off for the year
• Lab tests also improved: 3 measures of inflammation including sed rate, C-reactive protein, and white blood count all improved.

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Rheumatoid Arthritis Facts To Know

If you have rheumatoid arthritis , you experience jointpain and discomfort because your immune system mistakenly attacks yourjoints. Its one of many autoimmune conditions. The pain, redness, andinflammation in various joints can interfere with your daily life. But its essentialto seek treatment for the condition even if symptoms seem mild because treatmentalso prevents further damage.

Even though RA is complex, proactive management can improveyour quality of life. Here are 13 facts to help you live well with rheumatoid arthritis.

Risk Factors For A Urinary Tract Infection

Risk factors for UTIs include age, sex, and sexual activity. Mayo Clinic notes that women have shorter urethras the tube through which urine travels from the bladder compared to men. This shorter distance means women have a greater likelihood of external bacteria reaching their bladder, resulting in a UTI. Sexual activity, especially unprotected sex with a new partner, increases your risk for a UTI due to exposure to foreign bacteria.

Furthermore, some birth control methods primarily spermicides and diaphragms can increase your UTI risk. According to AARP, postmenopausal woman have a higher risk for UTIs than younger women due to changing pelvic anatomy and reduced estrogen levels. Once youve had one UTI, you are at elevated risk for recurrent infections .

Since rheumatoid arthritis is more likely to occur in women than in men and is most often diagnosed in people of reproductive age, you may find yourself facing multiple UTI risk factors at once.

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What Is A Rheumatoid Arthritis Rash

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the bodys immune system attacks itself and inflames the protective membrane inside the joints. This can result in symptoms that range from mild to severe.

Symptoms are mostly related to joint problems. But you may also experience flare-ups in which your symptoms are worse. This may include rashes on the body due to inflammation.

Other skin conditions associated with RA can include:

• Neutrophilic dermatoses:These can include Sweets syndrome, pyoderma gangrenosum, and rheumatoid neutrophilic dermatitis.
• Urticaria:Urticaria, or hives, may occur.
• Rare skin conditions: Sometimes rare skin reactions such as erythema diutinum can occur in people with RA.
• Reactions to medications: Medications such as methotrexate can trigger rheumatoid vasculitis and periungual infarcts, or tissue death in the nails due to lack of blood supply.

In most cases, there are treatments available for RA-related rashes.

People with RA can also experience RV. RV is a rare complication experienced in only

What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis And What Causes It

In people with Rheumatoid Arthritis, the bodys immune system targets affected joints. This can lead to frequent pain and swelling. Annoyingly, these symptoms can also worsen following rest. The wrists and hands are typically affected. This problem can result in low red blood cell count and inflammation around parts of the body, on serious occasions the lungs and heart. It is common for those with Rheumatoid Arthritis to develop issues with other body organs and tissues.

Unfortunately, the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not known. Experts believe the condition is likely caused by both genetic and environmental reasons.

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Does It Run In Families

You cant pass reactive arthritis on to your children. However, they can inherit the HLA-B27 gene, which could slightly increase their chance of getting the condition. This doesnt mean that by having this gene theyll definitely get reactive arthritis. However, the condition tends to be more common in people with HLA-B27.

Around 1 in every 10 people in the UK carry this gene.

The first signs of reactive arthritis are often:

• painful and swollen joints, usually in the ankles or knees
• sausage-like swelling of fingers or toes
• puffy, sore, red eyes, often with a mucus discharge known as conjunctivitis
• extreme, unexplained tiredness, known as fatigue

You may notice that your knees, ankles or toes suddenly become swollen, stiff and painful to move. Or the swelling may appear gradually over a few days.

Reactive arthritis can also affect other joints, such as your fingers, wrists, elbows and the joints at the base of your spine, known as the sacroiliac joints . It can also cause inflammation in the tendons around your joints, such as the Achilles tendon which runs down the back of your ankle.

You may find your whole finger or toe swells up if both the tendons and joints become affected at the same time. This is often called sausage digit or dactylitis .

Outdated Disease Classification System

According to the United States Food and Drug Administration , Currently used disease classification systems define diseases primarily on the basis of their signs and symptoms. These systems do not easily accommodate emerging information about disease mechanisms, particularly when it is at odds with traditional physical descriptions. As a result, many disease subtypes with distinct molecular causes are still classified as one disease, while multiple, different diseases that share a common molecular cause are not properly linked. The failure of our outdated disease classification systems to incorporate optimally new biological insights serves as a fundamental barrier to progress in personalized medicine. The US National Academy of Sciences has called for the creation of a New Taxonomy of disease that is designed to advance our understanding of disease pathogenesis and improve health and that defines and describes diseases on the basis of their intrinsic biology in addition to traditional signs and symptoms .

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Rheumatoid Arthritis And Your Kidneys

Learn about the link between rheumatoid arthritis and the increased risk of serious kidney disease, and what to do to protect yourself.

Evidence suggests an elevated risk of kidney disease is a serious health consequence of rheumatoid arthritis . Kidney disease also raises your odds of developing heart disease. Since people with RA already have double the average risk for cardiovascular disease, that can spell serious trouble.

Kidneys Diseases and RA

Some people with RA have a one in four chance of developing kidney disease compared with a one in five chance for people who dont have it. However, the type of kidney disease is not always clear because most patients with RA and chronic kidney disease do not get a kidney biopsy. Among patients who did get biopsies, a variety of renal diseases have been found, including a protein deposit that causes kidney failure, a buildup of immune substances within the kidney and other diseases that affect the tiny filters in the kidneys.

Science Behind the RA-Kidney Link

Symptoms of Kidney Disease

Often, people dont have symptoms of kidney disease until the disease is advanced. Some symptoms, such as fatigue and appetite loss, mimic those of RA. Always tell your doctor about any new or worsening symptoms. Symptoms of advanced kidney disease include:

• Puffiness around the eyes
• Urinating more often

Determining Kidney Disease Risk

• Family history of kidney disease

Safeguard Your Kidneys

You can protect your kidneys in several ways:

Hello,

Urinary Tract Infection Treatment

It may be hard to know the cause of a UTI whether its due to having RA, DMARD treatment, or other risk factors. Regardless, treatment for a UTI will be similar no matter what caused it.

Symptomatic UTIs are typically treated with antibiotics, which should be taken exactly as directed by a doctor. This means continuing to take the full course of treatment even if symptoms have disappeared after a few days. Early discontinuation of antibiotics could lead to antibiotic resistance, making UTIs harder to treat in the future.

Make sure your doctor knows about your RA diagnosis and that youre on methotrexate when they write your antibiotic prescription. Similarly, make sure that your rheumatologist knows about your antibiotic use before introducing methotrexate into your treatment regimen.

Your rheumatologist may temporarily suspend your methotrexate or other DMARD while youre taking antibiotics for an infection. This is to help your immune system to combat the infection. Make sure to let your rheumatologist know if you have any infection so that they can determine if you should continue your DMARD while being treated for an infection.

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A Plan To Treat And Prevent Rheumatoid Arthritis

To the above point, identifying and removing any additional stressors to the immune system, beyond a Proteus infection, is key.

This is exactly the program we offer here at Root Cause Medical. Long before we appreciated the link between Proteus and RA, we still placed patients on a high whole food plant-based diet which, unbeknownst to us at the time, lessened the impact of Proteus and patients symptoms improved.

This is exactly what happened in the 1999 research. They werent exactly sure why they saw all the improvements they did, they just knew the dietary change caused them.

I well remember the patient in her 60s who had suffered from RA for decades. She had been on every drug imaginable and finally had enough. Her joint destruction was severe and she was in a great deal of pain, with open sores over her knuckles.

Centers For Disease Control

Osteoarthritis is a disease characterized by degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint as well as bony overgrowth. The breakdown of these tissues eventually leads to pain and joint stiffness. The joints most commonly affected are the knees, hips, and those in the hands and spine. The specific causes of osteoarthritis are unknown, but are believed to be a result of both mechanical and molecular events in the affected joint. Disease onset is gradual and usually begins after the age of 40.

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What Is The Outlook For People With Rheumatoid Arthritis Rashes

There are no permanent solutions that can completely prevent RA rashes from occurring. Doctors may try a combination of medications to help you manage your condition. These treatments may reduce inflammation and minimize joint damage.

Its important that people with RA take measures to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible. Examples of lifestyle practices that may benefit a person with RA include:

• Getting plenty of rest, which can help to reduce fatigue symptoms and minimize joint inflammation.
• Exercising whenever possible, which can help to enhance joint mobility and build strong, flexible muscles.
• Taking measures to cope with stress, such as meditation, reading, taking a walk, or doing other activities to promote relaxation.
• Eating a balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. This can help you maintain a moderate weight, which is important in supporting joint health.

How Is Reactive Arthritis Treated

Treatment will depend on your symptoms, age, and general health. It will also depend on how severe the condition is. Treatment may also include:

• Antibiotics to treat the infection
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines to reduce inflammation
• Corticosteroids to reduce inflammation
• Immunosuppressive medicines such as methotrexate to control inflammation
• Strong biological immunosuppressants given as a shot
• Rest to ease pain and inflammation
• Exercise to strengthen muscles and improve joint function

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You Can Manage Pain With Exercise

Even though exercising is the last thing on your mind whenexperiencing RA pain, its a critical tool for pain management. This is animportant rheumatoid arthritis fact that many people overlook. If youre notaccustomed to routineexercise, start slowly and ease into a low-impact program thats joint-friendly.Gradually increase your exercise time and intensity as is tolerable for you.

Yoga and tai chi can help increase mobility and evenalleviate RA pain.

Key Points About Reactive Arthritis

• Reactive arthritis is a type of arthritis caused by an infection. It may be caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, salmonella, or another infection.
• The condition may cause arthritis symptoms, such as joint pain and inflammation. It may also cause symptoms in the urinary tract and eyes.
• Treatment includes antibiotics for the infection, plus medicines to reduce the joint pain and inflammation.
• Most people recover fully from reactive arthritis.

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Treatment For Interstitial Cystitis

As yet there is no cure for IC, so treatment approaches are designed to control symptoms. Each patient has his or her own unique subset of bothersome symptoms. At Columbia University Department of Urology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, our urologists and other specialists work as a team to design therapies to alleviate each patient’s symptoms.

Treatment may include:

Patients Demographics And Clinical Presentation

Eighty-nine patients met the inclusion criteria. Patients demographics and clinical presentation were collected. Majority of women were over 40 years old, and the majority had BMI over 30. Around half of the patients have been diagnosed with RA within one year. Using DAS28, 13 of the patients were in remission, 12 had low disease activity, 49 had moderate disease activity, and 15 had high disease activity. Table 1 shows the patients demographics and clinical presentation.

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Dont Ignore Uti Symptoms

If you are on methotrexate for RA, it is important that you understand your increased risk for UTIs. Waiting to treat a UTI increases the risk of infections in the kidney and bladder and even necrosis . This can increase the likelihood that youll experience recurring UTIs. If youre experiencing UTI symptoms, whether or not you believe they are side effects of methotrexate, make sure to speak to your doctor to get necessary treatment early.