Rheumatism arthritis (RA) is a common chronic self-immunological disease, mainly violating the arthropods, with diverse clinical manifestations.
Of the many diseases that affect the health of older persons, rheumatism in old age is increasingly becoming more important and deserves more attention.
Rheumatism in old age is a chronic disease that causes many problems in the lives of older persons. Compared with rheumatism arthritis of other age groups, it has its own characteristics and is often easily neglected or misdiagnosed. Many older persons experience early symptoms of joint pain, rigidity and so forth, often believing that they are simply normal joint retreats due to age growth and that they do not have timely access to health care, thus delaying the optimal treatment of their condition.
In terms of symptoms, it is common for the elderly to experience rheumatological arthritis in parts such as hands, wrists, shoulders and knees. Pain may initially be intermittent and then gradually become continuous, especially in the early morning when it becomes apparent that the rigidity of the joint is seriously affecting the normal daily activities of older persons, such as getting up, dressing and washing. Moreover, with the development of the condition, the joints are swollen and deformed, resulting in a significant reduction in the mobility of older persons, with simple behaviour that would have made it extremely difficult to walk and go up and down the stairs, and a very poor quality of life. They have to rely on the help of others, lose their independence and are psychologically vulnerable to negative feelings of inferiority, anxiety and so on.
In terms of treatment, there are also many challenges to the old-age rheumatism arthritis. The decline in the physical functioning of older persons, which often combines a variety of other chronic diseases, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, etc., makes the choice of drugs in treatment more cautious, taking into account the interaction between drugs and the effects on other organs. For example, some of the anti-regular hysteria drugs used to control rheumatological arthritis can impose a certain burden on liver and kidney functions, while the liver and kidney function of older persons is relatively weak, balancing treatment effectiveness with the safety of the use of the drug becomes a problem that doctors must address.
Furthermore, the knowledge of disease-related knowledge among older groups is generally inadequate and less dependent. Some are afraid of the side effects of drugs, reducing their own volume and even cutting it off; others are unable to take them on time because of their memory, which can lead to less than optimal treatment, repeated and aggravated.
Attention to rheumatism in the elderly is not only the responsibility of health workers, but requires the common attention of society as a whole and of the elderly and their families. Health education for the elderly needs to be strengthened to enable them to identify early symptoms of the disease in a timely manner and to actively seek medical treatment. Families also need to give more attention and care to assist the elderly with regular medication and regular review. In turn, the medical community should continue to explore individualized treatment programmes that are more appropriate to the elderly, increase the efficiency of the treatment of the disease, help older persons with rheumatism arthritis to alleviate their suffering and, as far as possible, return to normal life, so that they can remain healthy and of good quality in later life.
