It accompanies the patient for life, between moments of clinical well-being and the reappearance of joint manifestations. It’s psoriatic arthritis, chronic inflammatory disease characterized by joint involvement that affects both patients already suffering from psoriasis and healthy people familiar with psoriasis. Those affected will have phases of remission and phases of exacerbation. For this reason “the goal of therapy is to keep the patient in remission for as long as possible and to reduce the likelihood of having joint damage. There is a wide range of treatments nowadays for patients with psoriatic arthritis, ranging from symptomatic drugs, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or joint infiltrations, to so-called disease modifying drugs, which are divided into conventional immunosuppressive drugs and new generation drugs, such as biotechnology or target synthetic “. Thus Luisa Arcarese, Uoc Immunoreumatology doctor at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital of Rome, in an interview published in ‘Allies for Health’ (www.alleatiperlasalute.it), the portal dedicated to medical-scientific information , made by Novartis.
Therapeutic adherence is fundamental. “The therapy for psoriatic arthritis is effective only if it is carried out according to the dosage and frequency prescribed by the rheumatologist“, warns Arcarese. Therefore, even if the patient feels benefits, he must not suspend the treatments or reduce the frequency on his own initiative, as often happens, because he runs the risk of undergoing exacerbations.
From the doctor’s point of view it becomes essential, precisely to promote adherence to therapies, to share therapeutic objectives with the patient both in the short and long term, aiming to improve the quality of life and avoid any potentially irreversible bone damage.
The disease can cause arthritis, with swelling, pain and functional limitations of the joints involved; dactylitisswelling of one or more fingers or toes; enthesitisthat is, an inflammation of the point of intersection of the tendon at the bone level; chronic inflammatory low back pain, back pain characterized by nocturnal lumbar pain that improves with movement. In the presence of one of these symptoms it becomes necessary to contact a rheumatologist, in order to investigate the patient’s condition in more detail.
However, psoriatic arthritis “can also have extra-articular manifestations – remembers the expert – such as uveitis, gastrointestinal disorders, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, and last but not least the risk increased cardiovascular disease, so much so that it is identified as an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease. To prevent possible complications, it is therefore important to undertake a timely diagnostic path and promote early treatment of psoriatic arthritis “.
The complete interview is available on: https://www.alleatiperlasalute.it/alla-scoperta-di/artrite-psoriasica-quali-prospettive-il-paziente.