One should not ignore continued pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints of the hands and feet in the morning and intermittent fever as they may be signs of inflammatory arthritis, Dr Seema Grover, Chief of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said.

Speaking to Drug Today Medical Times on the occasion of World Physiotherapy Day, Dr Grover said these are general symptoms and should not be taken lightly.

"For example, if your kid is complaining of joint pain if he is not injured anywhere and he is regularly getting fever due to which he is unable to move or walk, You should not ignore it as a simple fever and other symptoms," she explained.

"If they are not managed timely, children may develop deformities in the joints, and their quality of life will be worst affected," Dr Grover said.
"If these problems are identified early and treated timely, it can prevent future disability and maintain quality of life," she explained.

Dr Grover said that it is well known that the life span of people has increased, but the quality of life is equally important. 

Speaking about inflammatory arthritis, Dr Grover said, "It is an autoimmune disease in which our cells in the body fight each other, which affects our joints, and the condition of our joints gets worsened."

"This disease is largely found in people between forty and sixty years of age. This group suffers mostly from rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, in which the movements of our joints get restricted. Even children are being diagnosed with juvenile arthritis (inflammatory arthritis). If we identify these symptoms early and the general population gets aware of them," she suggested,

Dr Grover also said that systemic inflammation is the reason for cardio vascular diseases in these patients. 

Inflammation causes plaque build-up in the arteries, which slowly narrows blood vessels and blocks flood flow which is the main cause of heart attacks and stroke.