Reference no: EM133834564

Problem

A 38-year-old female patient presents to the clinic for the first time. The patient has a slender stature and deformed hands. She says that she has had flares of severe pain in her hand joints that last about 2 weeks and then gradually go away, and she is noticing progressively worsening lateral deviation at the MCP finger joint on both hands. Her ability to grip anything is nearly absent, and she says that she drops everything. Evaluate the patient's condition and assessment. Her own body is contributing to the disease process by over-reaction, creating auto-antibodies that fix antigen and that form immune complexes. Even mild dehydration in her case could precipitate concretion deposition in soft tissue, such as muscle. Get the instant assignment help. Decreased circulation to the joints exacerbates the massive excessive buildup of cartilage covering the ends of the metacarpal-phalangeal (MCP), proximal interphalangeal (PIP) and distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints, contributing to weakness and loss of grip strength. She experiences a marked deficiency of the tumor necrosis factor, cytokines, and interleukin-1 each time she has a flare episode.