Although anyone can develop psoriatic arthritis, it occurs most often in adults between the ages of 30 and 55.
Psoriatic Arthritis Diagnosis Could Take More Than 2 Years, New Study Shows. Research finds that people who are younger, obese, or have a type of inflammation called enthesitis are at highest risk of a delay.
Genes: Many people who get psoriatic arthritis have a family history of the disease, and researchers have identified some of the genes involved. Environment: Factors such as obesity, infection, injury, or stress may trigger the onset of the disease.
It happens most often in the fingers and toes.
“Worsening joint pain and swelling, or new or worsening psoriatic lesions, are the most common red flags that someone is having a PsA flare,” says Yamen Homsi, M.D., the section chief of rheumatology at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. But there may be other signs that a flare is on the way.
PsA is often undiagnosed and can be misdiagnosed for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or osteoarthritis (OA), especially in a non-rheumatologic setting [7–9]. RA is a chronic inflammatory arthritis typified by pain, swelling, and stiffness of the joints, particularly symmetric small-joint synovitis of the hands and feet [10].
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or ESR or sed rate, is a blood test that measures inflammation in the body, which helps determine a psoriatic arthritis diagnosis, explains Elaine Husni, MD, MPH, vice chair of rheumatology and director of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Center at the Cleveland Clinic.
Psoriatic arthritis risk factor: Age
Psoriatic arthritis can start at any age. However, it occurs most often in adults ages 30 to 50. For the majority of patients, PsA starts five to 10 years after the development of psoriasis, says Dr. Haberman.
Blood tests can help diagnose psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and rule out other possible causes of joint pain and stiffness, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Examples include tests for c-reactive protein (CRP) and rheumatoid factor. Doctors do not rely solely on blood tests to diagnose PsA.
Just like psoriasis, PsA can range from mild to severe. Mild PsA is sometimes referred to as oligoarticular, meaning it affects four or fewer joints in the body. More severe PsA is often called polyarticular, meaning it affects five or more joints.
The majority of cases begin with the skin condition and then progress to joint pain within seven to 10 years.
So, basically rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis are very similar and treatments are generally the same. The biggest difference is the joints involved in the hands and feet and the fact that psoriatic arthritis also involves psoriasis of the skin which is a persistent chronic disease in itself.
Generally psoriatic arthritis is a mild condition. With proper treatment and help from others you can relieve joint pain and stiffness and keep skin problems under control. Some people however have a more serious disease and require combinations of medications to control symptoms and prevent joint damage.
The Arthritis Foundation lists joint pain, stiffness, skin rashes, fatigue, nail changes, decreased range of motion, and swelling as some of the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. When you combine these problems, the results can be debilitating. “It's like feeling your bones shatter and crumble.
A study published in 2015 in the journal PLoS One found that the overall pain, joint pain, and fatigue reported by psoriatic arthritis patients was significantly greater than that reported by people with rheumatoid arthritis.
Foods like fatty red meats, dairy, refined sugars, processed foods, and possibly vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants (you might hear them called nightshades) may all cause inflammation. Avoid them and choose fish, like mackerel, tuna, and salmon, which have omega-3 fatty acids.
Stress Is the Top Psoriatic Arthritis Trigger
Inflammation, in turn, can fuel joint damage in people with psoriatic arthritis and other arthritic conditions. The longer you're exposed to stress, the worse your psoriatic arthritis symptoms may get.
X-rays are the current gold standard. However, signs of psoriatic arthritis often do not appear on radiographs until later stages of the disease when bone erosion has occured.
Color changes. White, yellow, or brown discoloration and/or reddish marks (aka splinter hemorrhages, which are caused by tiny burst blood vessels under the nails) are common among people with psoriatic arthritis.
First-line therapy in PsA includes the use of anti-inflammatory agents such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and at times low-dose prednisone given orally or by intra-articular glucocorticoid injections, always taking into account existing comorbidities, especially premature cardiovascular disease.
Rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis are both autoimmune disorders that cause inflammation in the joints and throughout the body. Rheumatoid arthritis, like PsA, causes the synovial tissues that line the joints to thicken, causing pain, tenderness and swelling.
Both psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia can result in pain and fatigue, but people with psoriatic arthritis have these symptoms that differentiate the condition from fibromyalgia: Tender, swollen joints. The swelling of a whole toe or finger, referred to as “sausage digits”
Multiple sclerosis (MS) has also been reported as a comorbidity in individuals with PsO, and vice versa. This link between the two diseases may be somewhat unsurprising as both PsO and MS are inflammatory disorders and exhibit similarities in genetic risk variants and inflammatory pathways.