Your joints are typically located between your bones to allow for flexible movement. Specifically, you have joints in your knees, fingers, elbows, ankles, wrists and back. Sometimes these joints can be damaged due to trauma or overuse. In other instances, you may spontaneously develop joint disease because you inherited a certain gene that makes you predisposed to it. Ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are genetic joint diseases.
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing Spondylitis refers to a chronic disorder affecting the joints in your back. According to the Mayo Clinic, ankylosing spondylitis is thought to involve the presence of the HLA-B27 gene, as this increases your chances of developing this type of joint pain. Physical symptoms of this medical disease include back or hip stiffness and chronic back or hip pain, especially in the morning and when you're just resting. You may also experience pain and inflammation in your shoulder, knee, feet, ribs and spine when the disease progresses. Other symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis include a poor appetite, weight loss, eye inflammation, stooping and inability to expand your chest. This may affect your breathing.
Treatment for ankylosing spondylitis includes taking such drugs as corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as naproxen and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs such as methotrexate. Physical therapy is also offered as a means to stretch and strengthen your joints and muscles. As a last resort, surgery may be necessary to repair or replace your damaged joint.
Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis is a joint problem that develops in conjunction with an autoimmune skin disorder called psoriasis. The Mayo Clinic says that a combination of genetics and the environment factor into the development of psoriatic arthritis. Manifestations of psoriatic arthritis include pain on one or both sides of your body; pain in your fingers and spinal pain. Psoriatic arthritis can also cause arthritis mutilans, a condition in which the bones in your hands deteriorate and become deformed.
Treatment for psoriatic arthritis, like ankylosing spondylitis, involves the use of NSAIDS, corticosteroids and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Other treatments include using immunosupressant medications such as azathioprine and tumor-necrosis factor inhibitors such as etanercept. Surgery is a last resort to treat psoriatic arthritis.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
The New England Journal of Medicine indicates that rheumatoid arthritis is associated with the 2q chromosome. This is the name of the DNA material that makes you susceptible to developing rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms include morning stiffness, joint pain, poor appetite, trouble moving and weakness. It can also cause swollen glands, and skin redness and inflammation. NSAIDS, corticosteroids and cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors such as celecoxib can reduce rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
