May is recognized each year as National Arthritis

Awareness Month. Arthritis is a disease that impacts more than 50 million Americans, making it the number one cause of disability in the coun-try. Nearly 53 million adults have doctor-diagnosed arthri-tis; that number is expected to grow to 67 million by 2030. The first steps in conquering arthritis are learning the facts, understanding your condition and knowing that help is near.

What is Arthritis? Arthritis is the common term used to describe more than 100 different types of joint inflammation and pain-related conditions. It is most com-mon among women and oc-curs more frequently as people get older. Common arthritis

symptoms include swelling, pain, stiffness and decreased range of motion. Symptoms may come and go. They can be mild, moderate or severe.

Severe arthritis can result in chronic pain, inability to do daily activities and can make it difficult to walk or climb stairs. Arthritis can cause permanent joint changes. These changes may be visible, such as knobby finger joints, but often the damage can only be seen on X-ray. Some types of arthri-tis also affect the heart, eyes, lungs, kidneys and skin as well as the joints.

Degenerative Arthritis Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and is caused when the cartilage – the slick, cushioning surface

on the ends of bones – wears away, bone rubs against bone, causing pain, swelling and stiff-ness. Over time, joints can lose strength and pain may become chronic.

Risk factors include excess weight, family history, age and previous injury (an ACL tear, for example). Osteoarthritis can be prevented by staying active, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding repetitive movements.

Inflammatory Arthritis Inflammatory arthritis is caused when the immune sys-tem mistakenly attacks joints with uncontrolled inflamma-tion, potentially causing joint erosion and damage to internal organs, eyes and other parts of the body. Rheumatoid

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healthawareness

May 2019 a county health pool publication

Arthritis AwAreness Month

arthritis and psoriatic arthritis are examples of inflammatory arthritis. Researchers believe that a combination of genetics and environmental factors such as smoking can trigger autoim-munity.

DMARD Drugs With autoimmune and inflam-matory types of arthritis, early diagnosis and aggressive treat-ment is critical. Slowing disease progression can help minimize or even prevent permanent joint damage. Remission is the goal and may be achieved through the use of one or more medications known as disease-modifying antirheu-matic drugs (DMARDs). The goal is to reduce pain, improve function, and prevent or slow further damage to the joints.

Benefits Corner New ID Cards Arriving Soon

As previously communicated, the County Health Pool (CHP) will transition to a new Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) named IngenioRx effective July 1, 2019. This change was initially sup-posed to happen at the end of the year; however, BCBS informed CHP that they were imple-menting the change earlier than expected.

New ID cards with the updated Rx information on them were mailed out at the beginning of the year; however, in an effort to make certain that all members are utilizing the correct ID Cards, CHP will be mailing out new cards in the next few weeks. All Members should receive a new ID card prior to July 1, 2019.

The new ID cards will have a RxBin number of 020099 and a RxPCN code of WG. ID cards without the updated RxBin and PCN code will no longer be accepted after July 1, 2019. Please check that you are using the new ID cards to avoid any delays or difficulties in getting prescriptions filled after July 1, 2019.

As always CTSI staff is here to assist you with your health, dental, vision, or life insurance cover-age. You can reach us at 303 861 0507.

Infectious Arthritis Certain types of arthritis can be cause by a bacterium, vi-ruses, or fungi that enters the joint and triggers inflammation. Food poisoning (e.g., salmo-nella, shigella), sexually trans-mitted diseases (e.g., chlamydia, gonorrhea), and blood-to-blood infections like hepatitis C can lead to this type of arthri-tis. In many cases, timely treat-ment with antibiotics can clear the joint infection; however, sometimes infectious arthritis becomes chronic.

Metabolic Arthritis Gout or metabolic arthritis is another type of the disease. This type of arthritis is caused by the buildup of uric acid in the body. Uric acid is formed as the body breaks down purines, a substance found in human cells and in many foods.

Some people have high lev-els of uric acid because they naturally produce more than is needed or because their body cannot break it down efficient-ly. Uric acid then builds up and forms needle-like crystals in the joint, resulting in sudden spikes of extreme joint pain also known as a gout attack. Gout can come and go in episodes or, if uric acid levels are not reduced, it can become chronic, causing ongoing pain and dis-ability.

What Can Be Done?There are many things that can be done to preserve joint func-tion, mobility and quality of life. Learning about the disease and treatment options, making time for physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight are essential to longevity.