Your guide to arthritis / Michael Snaith and Royal Society of Medicine (Great Britain)

includes index

Acknowledgements ix
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
1 Symptoms and signs of arthritis
1
Symptoms
1
Colour changes
6
The weather
7
2 Osteoarthritis
9
What is osteoarthritis (OA)?
9
Spinal OA
18
Causes
23
The outcome of OA
25
Treatment
25
Self-help
26
Medication
28
Surgery
31
3 Soft tissue problems
33
Causes
35
Neck pain
36
Shoulder pain
40
Pain in the arm
43
Problems in the wrist and hand
44
Pain in the hip and leg
48
Problems with the foot
49
Hypermobility
52
4 Fibromyalgia
57
Case history
57
Explanation of symptoms
59
How is fibromyalgia diagnosed?
61
How is fibromyalgia treated?
63
5 Inflammatory arthritis
66
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
66
The spondylarthropathies
87
Arthritis in children
97
Treatment of arthritis in children
99
6 Gout and crystal arthritis
100
What is gout?
100
Symptoms
101
Patterns of gout
102
Uric acid and gout
105
Diet
106
Treatment
111
7 Systemic rheumatic diseases
119
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and related conditions
120
Scleroderma and systemic sclerosis
140
Inflammatory muscle disease: polymyositis and dermatomyositis
146
Sj��gren's syndrome
148
Systemic vasculitis
152
8 Arthritis and infection
161
Septic arthritis
162
Types of reactive or infection-associated arthritis
164
9 Bone conditions
169
Osteoporosis
169
Osteomalacia
172
Paget's disease
173
10 Treatment �� and what to expect 174
Lifestyle
175
Diet, herbal and complementary medical products
179
The medical treatment of arthritis: what can a patient expect?
185
11 Investigations and laboratory tests 195
Further help 200
Glossary 203
Index 213

A guide that includes vital facts, advice and support for arthritis sufferers and their carers.