Rheumatic diseases also affect young people

Rheumatic diseases not only affect the elderly, but also young people, and even in some cases, children. In fact, they are the leading cause of physical disability in the Western world according to the World Health Organization. From the Spanish Society of Rheumatology they seek to raise awareness among the population.

‘One in four’ campaign of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology

one in four people people over twenty years of age in Spain suffer from any of the different rheumatic diseases that exist; young people and children are not exempt either.

So close to 11 million people are affected in Spain, according to the study EPICS from Spanish Society of Rheumatology (SER).

Despite being the second cause of consultation in Primary Care and the first disability In the Western world, rheumatic diseases continue to be the great unknown and, on occasions, they tend to be trivialized associating them with aging.

More than 200 systemic rheumatic and autoimmune diseases

The SER indicates that there are described more than 200 systemic rheumatic and autoimmune diseasesamong which are the rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndromethe ankylosing spondylitisthe osteoarthritisthe osteoporosishe lupushe lumbagoand the dropamong other.

“They affect joints, bones and muscles, but also organs such as the lungs, heart, kidneys, eyes, skin, etc. They are the most frequent chronic ailments”, explains the Dr. Delia Reina, SER spokesperson and rheumatologist at Sant Joan Despí Moisès Broggi Hospital in Barcelona.

Why is it unknown that rheumatic diseases also affect young people?

The spokesperson for the Spanish Rheumatology Society clarifies that some of these diseases are typical of adulthood and even old age, and are usually the most popular.

“That is why it is believed that the rheumatologist only sees patients of this type, with osteoarthritis or osteoporosis, for example. But there are also so-called systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ERAS) that are typical of patients with much younger ages. In this sense, pathologies such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma or Sjögren’s Syndrome usually make their debut between the ages of 25 and 45”.

Has the prevalence of these diseases increased in young people?

According to him Dr. Juan Carlos Nieto, spokesperson for the SER and rheumatologist at the Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital in Madridthe prevalence of these diseases has remained stable in recent years, both for the autoimmune diseases (lupus or dermatomyositis) and for the juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

However, he points out that it is not possible to know for sure because they do not have recent epidemiological studies with which to make a comparison.

‘One in four’ campaign of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology

Signs to pay attention to

Dr. Reina insists on the importance of knowing the main symptoms and going to the doctor in case of any alert, since it is essential to improve the prognosis of these diseases.

Children

In children, attention must be paid to pain and the joint swellingsince they are the main symptoms for which patients are referred to a rheumatologist, according to the specialist.

Still, there are other symptoms that can also be due to a rheumatic disease:

• Prolonged fever of unknown cause or repeated febrile episodes.
• limitation of mobility or deformity of the joints.
• repeat fractures.
• Muscular weakness.
• Recurring oral thrush.
• Lameness without history of trauma.

Adults

Although in adults symptoms are very varied, more frequent son:

• Pain, which can be acute or chronic. Joint pain is the most frequent in rheumatic diseases.
• joint swelling (inflammation) and eventually a possible appearance of joint deformity, especially in rheumatic diseases that occur with chronic arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis o to psoriasic arthritis.
• Stiff joints.
• tiredness and fatigue.
• Fever.
• tingling in extremities.
• Loss of function of one or more joints with consequent limitation of mobility.
• skin lesions as psoriasis o ulcersin the eyes like uveitisin the lung or heart, as pleurisy o pericarditis respectively, or dry mouth, choking (dyspnea) or Raynaud’s syndrome (when the fingers turn white with the cold), among others.

Can rheumatic diseases be prevented?

Although rheumatic diseases cannot be prevented, an early diagnosis can be achieved and thus access the necessary treatment.

The expert emphasizes that this greatly improves the prognosis and the consequences of a chronic disease that could previously be very disabling.

‘One in four’

La SER has launched the second part of its ‘Una de cada cuatro’ campaign, this time aimed at a younger audience through a rap song format.

The objective is to raise awareness and sensitize the population so that the high prevalence of rheumatic diseases begins to become visible, since they can appear at any age.