Painful Hand Arthritis May Start With A Change In Saliva

From studyfinds.com

In A Nutshell

• People with painful, symptomatic hand arthritis have a noticeably different mix of bacteria in their saliva than people without the condition.
• One bacterial genus, Trichococcus, showed up far more often in arthritis patients and tracked with worse symptoms, including more affected joints and higher pain scores.
• The usual connection between mouth bacteria and gut bacteria appeared weaker and less coordinated in people with arthritis.
• The study is observational, so it can’t prove the bacteria cause arthritis, only that the two are linked.

For millions of people, the pain and stiffness of hand arthritis is just a fact of aging, something to manage, but rarely something doctors can explain at the root level. Now, a new study is pointing scientists toward an unexpected place: the mouth.

People with painful, symptomatic hand arthritis have a noticeably different mix of bacteria living in their saliva than people without the condition, and the usual back-and-forth between mouth bacteria and gut bacteria seems to break down in those same people.

Hand osteoarthritis affects more than 142 million people worldwide, according to the paper, a figure that includes people with joint damage who have few or no symptoms. This study zeroes in on the painful kind, where people have joint damage confirmed by X-ray and hand pain they actually feel day to day. Scientists have already tied gut bacteria to this type of arthritis, but the mouth has largely been ignored.

Drawing on data from the Xiangya Osteoarthritis Study, a large community-based research project in rural China, researchers went looking for that missing piece. What they found, published in the journal RMD Open, suggests the mouth and gut may be tangled up with joint health in ways nobody expected, though whether one drives the other is still a mystery.

It’s not as strange as it sounds. Scientists have long suspected that bacteria in the mouth can slip into the bloodstream and stir up inflammation elsewhere in the body, and the pattern in this study fits that idea, though it wasn’t tested directly here.

                                                                                            (© ashtproductions - stock.adobe.com)

One Bacterial Genus Kept Showing Up in Arthritis Patients

Researchers analysed saliva from 764 adults aged 50 and older, all part of the Xiangya Osteoarthritis Study in Longshan County, Hunan Province. Of those, 52 had symptomatic hand osteoarthritis, meaning joint damage on X-ray plus real hand pain, while 712 did not. A smaller slice of that group, 563 people (37 with arthritis, 526 without), also gave stool samples, which let researchers compare mouth bacteria against gut bacteria directly.

Saliva was collected first thing in the morning, before brushing or mouthwash could skew the results, then frozen right away. Stool samples came in during the same visit. From there, genetic sequencing sorted out which bacteria were present and in what amounts.

People with arthritis had fewer types of bacteria in their saliva overall, and the mix looked different from what showed up in people without the condition. One genus in particular, called Trichococcus, turned up far more often in the arthritis group.

More of This One Bacterium, Worse Arthritis Symptoms

More Trichococcus in someone’s saliva tracked with worse arthritis. People with more of it were more likely to have arthritis in more joints, higher pain scores, and more visible damage on X-ray. That kind of dose-response pattern makes the finding harder to write off as a coincidence, though it still doesn’t prove the bacterium is actually causing anything.

Researchers also used the bacterial data to estimate which biological processes might be more or less active in each group, without measuring those processes directly. Two such processes, both involved in making certain chemical compounds, appeared to be running lower in people with arthritis. What that means for joint health, if anything, isn’t clear yet.

The Mouth-Gut Line of Communication Breaks Down

Perhaps the most telling result came from comparing mouth and gut bacteria side by side in that smaller group of 563 people. In those without arthritis, the two microbial communities were tightly linked, with many bacterial groups in the mouth tracking bacterial groups in the gut. In people with arthritis, that web of connections shrank noticeably, and each bacterial group had fewer ties to the others.

Trichococcus also lined up with a gut process that earlier research from the same team had already connected to hand arthritis. That overlap hints that whatever is happening in the mouth might be echoing something happening in the gut, and that both could be tangled up with the condition.

Why This Isn’t Proof, Just a Lead Worth Following

This is an observational study, meaning researchers tracked patterns rather than testing a cause, so it can’t say the bacteria are causing the arthritis. It’s just as possible that arthritis, or the lifestyle changes that come with it, is reshaping the bacteria instead. Because everything was measured at a single point in time, there’s no way to know which came first.

A fairly small arthritis group, all from one rural part of China, means the results may not hold up elsewhere. And the sequencing method used can say which bacteria are present without capturing what they’re actually doing in the body.

Bigger, longer studies are needed to confirm this, the researchers said, and figuring out the biology behind any mouth-gut-joint link will take more targeted work.

Hand arthritis affects hundreds of millions of people and still isn’t well understood biologically. If a bacterial fingerprint in saliva turns out to be part of the story, it could one day help flag the condition earlier, though that’s still a long way off. For now, the mouth looks like a research lead worth pursuing.

Disclaimer: This article summarizes findings from a single observational study and is intended for general informational purposes. It is not medical advice and should not be used to diagnose, treat, or manage any health condition. Anyone with questions about hand arthritis or oral and gut health should speak with a qualified healthcare provider.

https://studyfinds.com/hand-arthritis-may-start-saliva/

Osteoarthritis – symptoms, causes, and ways to cope

From restless.co.uk

Osteoarthritis is a condition that causes joint pain and stiffness. According to the NHS, it’s the most common type of arthritis in the UK and affects over 9 million people.

The condition can significantly affect a person’s mobility, mental wellbeing, and overall quality of life, so taking steps to prevent or manage symptoms can make a real difference.

Here, we’ll cover exactly what osteoarthritis is – including symptoms, causes, prevention, and tips for coping. We hope you find it useful.

What is osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis causes joints to become stiff and painful. It initially affects our joints’ smooth cartilage (which lines the surface and caps the ends of our bones), making it more difficult to move. Once the cartilage lining has begun to thin, tendons and ligaments have to work harder to move joints, which can cause them to swell and develop bony lumps (osteophytes).

Osteoarthritis can affect almost any joint in the body, but most commonly occurs in the hands, fingers, hips, knees, shoulders, and spine (typically the neck or lower back). While it can affect people of any age, it’s most common in older adults.

Osteoarthritis is often confused with osteoporosis because people can have both conditions simultaneously; however, each is distinct. While osteoarthritis causes pain in joints and reduces their function and mobility, osteoporosis is caused by a loss of bone mass, which increases a person’s risk of fractures and injuries.

The condition also differs from rheumatoid arthritis, which is another form of arthritis that causes the immune system to attack joints, often leading to pain and swelling.

What are the symptoms of osteoarthritis?

Joint pain, stiffness, and reduced joint mobility are some of the most common osteoarthritis symptoms.

Other symptoms can include swelling and tenderness, and grating, clicking, cracking, or popping sounds when joints are moved. Some people may also have extra lumps of bone in their joints, or find that their joints look slightly bigger or more ‘knobbly’ than usual.

The severity of symptoms can vary from person to person and differ between individual joints. For example, some people might find that their symptoms come and go, or are mild, while others may experience more severe, continuous symptoms that can make it difficult to carry out daily activities.

We’ll cover some of the main types of osteoarthritis below, along with their symptoms…

Osteoarthritis of the knee

Osteoarthritis of the knee can make walking painful, particularly when going up or down stairs or hills.

You may find it difficult to straighten your legs, hear grating sounds when you move the joint, or find that your knees feel as though they might ‘give way’ beneath you.

Osteoarthritis of the knee usually affects both knees over time – unless it’s the result of an injury or other condition that only affected one knee.

Osteoarthritis of the hand

Osteoarthritis tends to affect three main areas of the hand – the base of the thumb, the middle joints of the fingers, and the joints closest to the fingertips.

Symptoms include fingers becoming stiff, painful, swollen, and bending slightly sideways. Some people may also have bumps on their finger joints or painful cysts on the back of their fingers. In some cases, a bump can also develop where the base of the thumb joins to your wrist.

Osteoarthritis of the hand can make it difficult to perform manual tasks such as opening jars, writing, and turning keys.

Osteoarthritis of the hip

Osteoarthritis of the hip can impact the movement of the hip joints – for example, making it tricky to get in and out of a car or put on shoes.

It can also cause pain in the groin or outer hip, which can intensify when you move around.

What causes osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is caused by joint damage. In part, this is a normal process of life as our joints are exposed to constant low-level damage – for example, through everyday activities such as running, repetitive motions like typing, and sitting in a cramped position for long periods.

In most cases, the body repairs itself, and you won’t experience symptoms. However, osteoarthritis occurs when the damage is more severe, and the protective cartilage at the end of bones breaks down.

Damage to the protective cartilage can progress over time, which is why age is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis. That said, the condition can occur at any point, and there are several other risk factors to consider. These include…

• Obesity – being obese places excess strain on the joints, particularly on those responsible for bearing most weight, such as the hips and knees.

• Previous injury – for example, dislocated joints, torn cartilage, or ligament injuries – and overusing a joint when it hasn’t had enough time to heal.

• Other health conditions – osteoarthritis can occur in joints that have been damaged by another condition, such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis. Diabetes has also been identified as a risk factor. In fact, according to experts, almost half of adults with diabetes also have arthritis.

• Family history – research suggests that osteoarthritis may run in families, although studies have yet to identify a single gene responsible for this.

• Gender – due to factors like menopause, which can cause loss of bone mass, women have a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis than men.

• Occupation – having a job that involves kneeling, heavy lifting, climbing, or other similar physical actions can increase the risk of osteoarthritis by placing strain on joints.

How is osteoarthritis diagnosed and treated?

There’s no definitive test used to diagnose osteoarthritis. Instead, diagnosis will typically involve your GP asking questions about your symptoms and examining your joints.

Further tests, such as blood tests or X-rays, aren’t often necessary but may be used to rule out other possible causes of symptoms, such as bone fractures or rheumatoid arthritis.

While there’s currently no cure for osteoarthritis, several treatments can help reduce symptoms. For example, painkillers or a structured exercise plan with a physiotherapist may be advised if your symptoms are more severe.

You can find out more about osteoarthritis treatment and support on the NHS website. However, you should always seek advice from your GP before taking any medication.

6 ways to manage symptoms and reduce your risk of developing osteoarthritis

Alongside medication and other professional treatments, lifestyle changes can also play a role in preventing osteoarthritis or managing symptoms.

We’ll cover some of these below.

1. Exercise regularly

Regular exercise is one of the most effective ways to keep joints healthy.

Research has shown that exercising regularly can help slow, manage, and, in some cases, prevent osteoarthritis. This is because it can relieve stiffness, reduce joint pain and fatigue, and increase bone and muscle strength (which reduces pressure on joints).

Low-impact exercises, such as resistance training, stretching, and walking, tend to be the most effective at keeping joints mobile while limiting strain. For ideas on how to get started, check out our articles: 15 low-impact exercise ideas and 7 low-impact exercises you can do at home.

2. Improve your posture

Working on your posture and avoiding staying in one position for too long can help reduce your risk of osteoarthritis.

This includes moving around regularly and ensuring that your chair is adjusted to the correct height if your job involves sitting at a desk for long periods.

If you’re looking to work on this, try these 5 exercises to help improve your posture.

3. Get enough rest

Exercise can help keep your joints healthy and manage osteoarthritis symptoms, but getting enough rest is just as important.

Research has found that prioritising sleep quality and getting adequate rest each night may help to reduce osteoarthritis pain. This is because our bodies recover during sleep.

If you struggle to get enough good-quality rest, check out the tips in our sleep and fatigue section. 

4. Maintain a healthy weight

Being overweight places stress on joints, which can speed up the deterioration of joint cartilage. This can either worsen existing osteoarthritis symptoms or increase your risk of developing the condition.

As well as exercising regularly, one of the most important steps you can take to maintain a healthy weight is to eat a balanced diet.

If you’d like help losing weight healthily and sustainably, head over to our diet and nutrition section. Here, you’ll find advice on everything from ways to cut back on added sugar to healthy and filling recipes.

5. Eat for joint health

Research has also revealed that some nutrients – such as calcium and vitamin D – are particularly beneficial for joint health.

Some joint-friendly foods include fatty fish, walnuts, ginger, broccoli, and olive oil. For example, research has found that omega-3 fatty acids in fish may decrease inflammation and slow osteoarthritis progression.

For more information on how to eat for joint health, check out our article: 10 best foods for healthy joints and which to avoid.

6. Maintain healthy blood sugar levels

Research has drawn a link between diabetes and an increased risk of developing osteoarthritis.

This is because high glucose levels can increase molecules that stiffen bone cartilage, while diabetes can cause inflammation, accelerating cartilage breakdown.

As a result, regulating blood glucose levels can help prevent the onset of osteoarthritis and manage symptoms. For more information, you might like to read our article: 12 science-backed ways to lower (or regulate) blood sugar levels.

Final thoughts…

Osteoarthritis can be a painful and frustrating condition to live with. While there’s currently no cure, several things can help manage symptoms and reduce your risk of developing the condition. Simple lifestyle habits, such as eating a joint-friendly diet and prioritising sleep, can make all the difference.

For further reading, check out our general health section. Here, you’ll find information on everything from gut and bladder health to important health checks and ways to boost longevity.

If you’d like to learn more about how bones work and change as we age, check out our Better Bones series running on Rest Less Events.

Find out more

 https://restless.co.uk/health/healthy-body/osteoarthritis-symptoms-causes-and-ways-to-cope/?utm_source=early-week-email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=early_week_email_26-04-07_general&utm_content=early_week_email_26-04-07_general

Psoriatic Arthritis: Hand Strength, Dexterity, and Fine Motor Control

From everydayhealth.com

If you have psoriatic arthritis (PsA), you may be familiar with sore fingers, stiff wrists, and the frustration of struggling with formerly simple tasks like buttoning a shirt or chopping vegetables. Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory form of arthritis that causes painful, swollen joints. It frequently affects the hands.

When PsA impacts your hands, this can reduce strength, dexterity, and fine motor skills, all of which can interfere with your daily life.

“In severe cases, it may be almost impossible to open and close the hand or make a fist,” says Norman Gaylis, MD, a rheumatologist and board member of the American College of Rheumatology in Miami. “This drastically reduces the quality of life when people are unable to complete household chores, pursue hobbies they enjoy, or take care of their daily hygiene needs because they are unable to use their hands.”

How PsA Takes a Toll on Hand Function

In the most basic terms, psoriatic arthritis affects hand function through chronic inflammation. This can degrade cartilage and bone over time.

These are the ways that PsA can change your hands:

• Reduced Strength and Muscle Atrophy When your hands are painful, swollen, or stiff, you might use them less. This can lead to a loss of strength and muscle mass.
• Stiffness Inflammation from psoriatic arthritis can make your hands feel stiff. This is due to synovitis (inflammation of the joint capsule) and enthesitis (inflammation where your tendons and ligaments attach to your bones).
• Difficulty Gripping Grip strength decreases as the severity of psoriatic arthritis increases. This affects the ability to both grasp an object with your whole hand, like when you pick up a water bottle, and pick up small items with your thumb and index finger.
• Swelling Psoriatic arthritis can cause severe swelling in the fingers, called dactylitis. You might also hear this called “sausage fingers.”
• Nail Changes Up to 80 percent of people with PsA experience changes in their fingernails. “With some patients, nails start to look broken, become brittle, and even separate from the nail bed,” says Dr. Gaylis. Not only can this feel embarrassing but it can be painful and make it difficult to use the tips of your fingers (like you do when typing on a computer or phone).
• Deformities Actual deformities in the hands are rare these days, thanks to better treatment. However, they can still develop if psoriatic arthritis isn’t treated. “In the most severe cases, arthritis mutilans develops and dissolves tissue and bones in the fingers,” says Gaylis. This occurs in about 5 percent of psoriatic arthritis cases.
• Loss of Fine Motor Skills Hand swelling, pain, and stiffness can all make it challenging to perform tasks that require precision, dexterity, and coordination. You might find it increasingly difficult to manipulate small objects like zippers or buttons.

All these symptoms add up to real difficulty completing functional tasks in your everyday life.

Who Can Help Restore Hand Function

There are a few health professionals you can reach out to if psoriatic arthritis is affecting your hands. The primary ones are rheumatologists and certified hand therapists (CHTs).

Rheumatologists are doctors who specialize in autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases that affect the joints, bones, and muscles. If you’re diagnosed with PsA, you’ve most likely already seen a rheumatologist.

“Fortunately, rheumatologists can treat psoriatic arthritis with many new biologics and medicines that are very effective,” says Gaylis. These medications help manage inflammation and swelling from psoriatic arthritis, which can noticeably improve hand function.

CHTs are also an essential part of the team for anyone with psoriatic arthritis affecting their hands. These health professionals can either be occupational therapists or physical therapists who’ve gone through extra training to specialize in treating hand conditions like psoriatic arthritis.

A CHT will assess your mobility and function and give you tailored treatment that might include splints, exercises, and assistive devices. You can ask your doctor to refer you to a CHT, or depending on your health insurance, you may be able to make your own appointment.

Strategies to Improve Strength and Control

We use our hands constantly, from turning on the tap at a sink to sliding a credit card out of a wallet. Bringing back strength and control to your hands can improve your quality of life.

Therapeutic Exercises

Therapeutic exercises can reduce pain and improve coordination, strength, and function. Common exercises for PsA include the following:

• Isometric Exercises These are static exercises during which your muscles stay the same length. “Isometric exercises are safer for the arthritic hand to perform because the joints are not moving,” says Kristin Valdes, a certified hand therapist and professor at Touro University Nevada, in Henderson, Nevada. In this type of exercise, you squeeze an immovable object, and your joints are supported by the object you’re holding. Valdes suggests squeezing a firm racquetball or tennis ball to improve grip strength.
• Passive Range of Motion With psoriatic arthritis, the fingers can flex (or “claw” inward) over time as the skin contracts. Anyone experiencing this “should use the other hand or pull their fingertips over the edge of the table to try to straighten out the fingers daily,” says Valdes.
• Tendon Gliding This set of exercises encourages smooth movement of your finger tendons within their sheath.

Be cautious when starting hand exercises with psoriatic arthritis. “If treatment is too aggressive, it can increase hand pain and cause skin breakdown,” says Valdes.

Consider seeing a CHT for a personalized program of exercises, since everyone’s psoriatic arthritis is different.

Assistive Tools

When your wrist is sore, twisting open a jar can be very painful. And when your fingers are stiff, it can feel near impossible to pick up small items. Assistive devices can help you achieve these everyday tasks with less effort and therefore less pain.

Assistive devices for psoriatic arthritis include these examples:

• Wide-grip pens or utensils
• Electronic jar or can openers
• Ergonomic kitchen tools
• Button hooks
• Elastic shoelaces
• Electric toothbrushes
• Gripping materials (to hold a mixing bowl in place, for example, or grip a lid)
• Tap turners or lever handles (to avoid twisting)
• Tongs
• Adaptive cutting boards
• Motion sensor dish soap or shampoo dispensers

Orthoses

For those seeing a hand therapist for treatment, “The therapist can also fabricate a custom orthosis to rest the joints,” says Valdes. This might look like a ring to keep your finger joint straight or a brace that wraps around your thumb.

You can also get premade orthoses like wrist splints online or in pharmacies, but talk to your hand therapist or doctor first to ensure that you’re getting the right one.

Joint Protection and Skin Protection

Joint protection techniques, which are usually taught by a CHT, are ways to perform daily tasks so that less stress is applied to your joints. The following techniques are common:

• Practice the large joint rule. Use larger and stronger joints for tasks instead of smaller ones. Valdes gives the examples of pushing instead of pulling, carrying bags with your forearm instead of hands, and using a shoulder bag rather than a handbag.
• Limit repetitive hand movements. For example, use an electric can opener instead of a hand-operated one. You can still knit or do hobbies involving your hands, but Valdes recommends limiting these to no more than 30 minutes at a time.
• Use a light grip. “Try not to grip so forcefully that the hand fatigues easily,” says Valdes. One way to achieve this is to bulk up the handles of tools or utensils. For example, when cooking, wrap a potholder around a pot handle to make it larger; that reduces the pressure on your hand.
• Don’t forget skin protection. Applying cream to tight skin can help protect both the skin and joints.

Heat and Cold Therapy: Using Paraffin Baths for Stiffness vs. Ice for Acute Inflammation

If your fingers are swollen, try cold therapy with a cold cloth or ice pack. This can help reduce inflammation in the affected joints.

Heat therapy can’t bring down acute inflammation, but it can provide pain relief. If your hands are stiff or painful, consider applying a warm cloth or heating pad.

Warm paraffin, or wax, baths, which a CHT can perform, can also be soothing. A hand therapist might do this to loosen up your joints before exercising them. However, you’ll want to avoid paraffin baths if you have any open cuts or inflamed skin on your hands.

Lifestyle and Daily Habits

Breaking tasks into smaller, more manageable steps can help you conserve energy and manage pain. Be sure to take frequent breaks to rest your hands. “For example, when making a meal, break up cutting or chopping tasks throughout the day,” says Valdes.

You’ll also want to make a daily habit out of your therapeutic exercises, particularly stretching and range of motion exercises. However, avoid strengthening exercises when your hands are painful, says Valdes.

Overall, do your best to maintain an active lifestyle and keep up with the activities that bring you joy and meaning. You can also try new hobbies that don’t tax your hands as much, such as singing, line dancing, learning a language, or hiking.

If you’re struggling with hand pain or stiffness, talk to your rheumatologist or CHT. Your rheumatologist may adjust your medication, and your CHT can strategize personalized solutions, whether that’s a new hand splint or exercise program.

The Takeaway

• A rheumatologist can help you manage psoriatic arthritis hand symptoms with newer biologics and medications that control inflammation.
• Certified hand therapists can tailor exercises to your specific hand symptoms, recommend assistive tools, and educate you on joint protection to preserve and restore hand function.
• Therapeutic hand exercises can help enhance grip strength, dexterity, and control for performing daily tasks.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/rheumatic-conditions/psoriatic-arthritis-hand-strength-and-dexterity/