What are the symptoms of rheumatic diseases?

Rheumatic diseases are common clinical diseases. The definition of this disease is very general, and there are many types of disease classifications. Rheumatic diseases can occur in many parts of the human body, and different types of diseases may present different symptoms. Rheumatic diseases vary in severity and have a great impact on the human body. The symptoms of rheumatic diseases also need to be considered during treatment.

1. Pain syndrome

Pain in joints, muscles, and tendons is quite common, and can affect all large and small joints of the limbs, with symmetrical joint pain being the most common. Morning stiffness and Raynaud's sign are important associated symptoms. The onset, nature, location, duration, presence or absence of systemic symptoms and age of onset of pain vary from patient to patient. For example, gout attacks are sudden and acute, and pain in the big toe joint is common. Rheumatoid arthritis has a slow onset and often affects the wrists, metacarpophalangeal joints, proximal interphalangeal joints, and cervical spine. Ankylosing spondylitis almost invariably begins with low back pain and progresses upward, and when surrounding joints are affected, they are mostly the large joints of the lower limbs. In addition to joint pain, systemic lupus erythematosus has more obvious systemic manifestations. Some patients eventually develop joint stiffness, deformity, and loss of function, while some patients have repeated joint swelling and pain but ultimately no deformity.

2. Skin manifestations

Most patients have skin changes, which may be specific or nonspecific. The manifestations are diverse, including urticaria, annular erythema, papular erythema, erythema multiforme, erythema nodosum, facial erythema, etc. The pathological basis of skin lesions is vasculitis, the most important of which is leukocytoclastic vasculitis. The size of the affected blood vessels, reaction intensity, duration, range of involvement and pathological changes vary depending on the different skin lesions.

3. Eye manifestations

Ocular symptoms may precede systemic symptoms by months or years. Some become prominent manifestations during the course of the disease. The lesions can affect the cornea, retina, and pigment layer. Symptoms include dry eyes, increased intraocular pressure, cataracts, orbital myositis, ophthalmoplegia, decreased vision, and even blindness.

4. Pulmonary manifestations

Dyspnea is a common complaint and may result from pneumonia, eosinophilic pulmonary infiltrates, pulmonary hemorrhage, focal granuloma formation, fibrosing alveolitis, interstitial pneumonia, and pleural effusion.

5. Digestive system manifestations

Since the basic pathological change is extensive small vessel inflammation, the digestive system is also widely affected, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, perforation or intestinal obstruction, which can be life-threatening. Liver involvement is common and may be the prominent manifestation of the disease, with symptoms such as hepatomegaly, jaundice, pain in the liver area, nausea, vomiting, and in the form of chronic active hepatitis.