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| Hey Scabwolf
You asked a month or so back some questions about psoriatic arthritis
- if it was just arthritis in people with psoriasis, what were the
biological differences bwn PA and RA, etc.
The latest NPF Psoriasis Advance (one of the publications sent to
members and a good reason to join for people who haven't already)
focuses on psoriatic arthritis. It includes a short article I thought
of you and your questions while reading, titled "research zeroes in
on psoriatic arthritis" because it goes into some of the differences I
wasn't aware of the specifics about (I don't have PA and so haven't
focused as much on learning about it). I'm quoting from it here,
because the NPF is good at putting some of the more abstruse stuff in
understandable terms:
"We're learning about how these diseases [PA, ankylosing spondylitis &
RA] are very similar" said Philip Mease, M.D., clinical professor of
rheumatology, Seattle Rheumatology Associates, Seattle, Wash. "there
are lots of similarities in the chemical players and cytokines between
RA & PA..."
However, PA differs from RA, Mease emphasized, in the chemicals that
can lead to inflammation in the synovium, a thin membrane in freely
moving joints that lines the joint capsule and secrets fluid to
protect the joint.
PA also differs because the initial pathology (beginning of the
disease) is in the enthesis rather than the synovium. The enthesis is
where the tendons, ligaments & connective tissue inflame where they
conect to the bone.
There some more stuff in the actual article re: PA and research, but
those were two key and interesting differences - basically it starts
in a different part of the effected joint and different chemicals are
involved in the inflammation that is central to both of them. I wonder
if the different chemicals involved play into why one actually starts
in the synovium and one doesn't...
The whole issue would be a good thing for anyone with PA to get their
hands on, as it also gets into things like using yoga and tai chi to
treat PA, so I'll do one of my periodic shills for the NPF. These
snail mail journals are only available to paid members, but you can
pay as much or as little as you can afford to join. It's not available
to the free online-only members,although there are other excellent
publications available for them, but is also available online to
full members (I just checked and the current issue is up in .pdf
format, including an option for a version without the ads - a nice
touch, as I will admit to not being happy about some of those).
Kim
The Psoriasis NG FAQ is posted monthly and can be viewed at
http://www.psoriasisfaq.com
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