Reiter's Syndrome and Reactive Arthritis

Reactive arthritis, as its name suggests, is a form of arthritis that is essentially caused by another illness or disease, and thus it is reactive to the other condition. Reactive arthritis has three major components of symptoms: inflammatory arthritis of joints, eye inflammation, and urethritis (inflammation of the urethra canal). The disease is most common in men, specifically in the age group from 20 to 40 years old, though it can affect other age groups and females. Uniquely, the condition is also more prevalent in white males, than black males, because white people tend to have HLA-B27 tissue, whereas it is not as common among blacks. Those infected by HIV are also susceptible to suffering from reactive arthritis. Reactive arthritis is an RF-seronegative, HLA-B27-linked autoimmune damage to joint cartilage, and is often preceded by gastrointestinal infections.

The disease was first discovered in 1916, by a German military doctor named Hans Reiter, thus it is also known as "Reiter's Syndrome". Reiter described the disease accurately, as he observed a soldier who suffered from severe diarrhea during World War I. Dr. Hans Reiter would later perform cruel and unusual medical experimentation on inmates during World War II, in the Nazi concentration camps. Thus, the medical community is reluctant to recognize the disease by his personal name.

Reactive arthritis is initiated by another infection such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, and Campylobacter. Gastrointestinal infections and/or food poision can also precede reactive arthritis. Usually, the symptoms of reactive arthritis become apparent roughly 1 to 4 weeks after the previous infection, though why this is, is unknown.

Symptoms typically appear, as stated previously, roughly 1 to 4 weeks after the previous infection had occurred. Often, the first symptom is urinary-related, as the person infected feels a burning sensation while urinating or they have to urinate much more frequently. After this first symptom appears, the actual arthritis aspect of the disease begins to take affect. Arthritis begins to affect large joints in the body (i.e. the knees), and causes immense amounts of pain and swelling. As the disease progresses, the patient begins to suffer from vision problems and irritation, though such symptoms tend to be temporary.

Additonally, approximately twenty to thirty percent of men infected by reactive arthritis suffer from lesions or sores around the head of their penis. A small minority also are affected by sores on their feet and hands, and an even smaller minority develop mouth ulcers. Those who have reactive arthritis are also at risk for developing cardiac problems such as pericarditis and aortic regurgitation.

Though a number of symptoms are apparent in the disease, medical doctors tend to use polyarthritis or MRI's to determine the diagnosis. At times, they will also take mouth and urine samples to example the body fluid for signs. A gene test can also be administered to determine whether a person has the HLA-B27 gene, which is prevalent in the majority of those infected by reactive arthritis.

It is very difficult to treat reactive arthritis in itself, the doctor must first try and determine the preceding infection and attempt to treat that with antibiotics. Otherwise, it isn't possible to treat reactive arthritis itself, rather the symptoms individually.