Palindromic rheumatism facts

Palindromic rheumatism or simply PR is a rare syndrome, characteristic for its sudden and rapid arthritis attacks. Just in the United States, there are over 2 million people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, but only some 260.000 of them suffer from PR type of the disease. The problem attacks adult people, generally in the age group 20 to 50.

Palindromic Rheumatism Overview

Patients suffering from this disease may experience swelling of different joints in the body and intense pain during the attack. Attacks happening in this disorder are not regular or fixed and the interval between two attacks may be several days or several weeks. These attacks can provoke pain in joints of the knees or other larger joints in the body. Sometimes, PR patients may also experience pain in the joint of their fingers.

This type of rheumatism is specific because there are no visible deformations to the joints or roentgenographic manifestations, and the attacks don’t damage the joints. Blood of the patients suffering from PR shows elevation of CRP (C reactive protein) and ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), which is consistent with inflammation happening inside the body.

Causes and Treatment Options

Scientists found no specific causes for this type of rheumatism. Prevalent theory is that some people may be genetically predisposed to palindromic rheumatism, since the disease is considered to be autoimmune. Specific genes, though, have to be activated in order to cause this illness, and as most likely triggers, scientists identified some bacteria, viruses and also certain hormonal changes.

In most cases, this medical problem is referred to as abortive form of rheumatoid arthritis, because, as in rheumatoid arthritis, there is a high proportion of antibodies found in patients suffering from PR.

Treatment of palindromic rheumatism usually consists of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and sometimes oral or injection given steroids. Different other medications can also affect the disease and doctors may suggest using Plaquenil to prevent progression to rheumatoid arthritis and connective tissue diseases, colchicine or DMARD (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) are used for the prevention of future attacks of palindromic rheumatism.

There are also some natural treatment options said to be beneficial for people suffering from this medical problem. These methods can include drinking of honey and apple cider vinegar mixture with warm water, drinking plain bitter gourd juice or even taking 2 tablespoons of raw potato juice. Using these juices and mixtures on a daily basis should prevent all potential health problems related to palindromic rheumatism.