In wet weather, queues of patients with symptoms of arthritis and arthrosis line up outside doctors’ offices. The chief rheumatologist of Moscow, Professor Yevgeny Zhilyaev, answers questions from Antenna readers about these ailments.
December 10 2017
– Reactive arthritis is caused by an infection, and after taking a course of antibiotics, one can hope that the disease will not return. But it is important not to waste time, otherwise the disease will turn into a chronic form. You can also get rid of gouty arthritis, for this you need to normalize the level of uric acid in the blood. Many diseases are indeed completely impossible to cure, but it is quite possible to achieve long-term remission, and this is already a success.
– With bruises, minor injuries, sprains, unpleasant symptoms should go away in a week. The following signs indicate problems with joints: the pain does not subside, it returns, you feel stiffness in the knees, feet, wrists, spine. In such cases, it is necessary to go to an appointment with a rheumatologist, and not a surgeon.
– There is no such pharmacological group among drugs. Rheumatologists call them “delayed-action symptomatic drugs.” Chondroprotective agents have not been shown to repair cartilage or block destruction. If we talk about the uselessness, then physiotherapy does not relieve inflammation, but only reduce pain.
– No. An excess of meat and animal fat is extremely harmful to joints, because of such a diet, you can earn gout. Better to stick to a Mediterranean diet. It is based on vegetable fats: fish, seafood, nuts, herbs. The consumption of animal fat should be reduced: eat less dairy products, meat. Polyunsaturated acids (fatty fish, vegetable oil) have an anti-inflammatory effect.
– Injections allow you to postpone surgery. There are about 30 drugs with hyaluronic acid on the Russian market, but only three of them have proven efficacy. Injections are prescribed in courses. They must be done 1–5 every other time. Repeat as pain occurs or every 6 months. The downside is that the injections are quite expensive.
– The condition of the joints is affected by cold, dampness and deficiency of vitamin D. In central Russia, November and December are the gloomiest times, and after a long winter, a minimum of “sunny” vitamin remains in the body. It is desirable for city dwellers to take it all year round. Watch your weight, with obesity, the likelihood of getting sick increases.
– It is undesirable to run, do squats, lift weights, walk up and down stairs a lot. Joints do not like shock. Suitable loads are level walking, swimming, elliptical exercises, stationary bike exercises. Yoga and Pilates are useful, they improve flexibility, strengthen bones. Ideally, you should exercise every day, because weakened muscles accelerate the process of joint degradation.