Q: I am 22 years old male having swelling in my hand joints for the last one and a half years. I got psoriasis and swelling after I recovered from jaundice some two and a half years back. The swelling started with a red dot and then the inflammation occurred. My rheumatoid tests report an increase in CRPs though my R.A. factor is still below 8. Am I suffering from rheumatoid arthritis?

A:Persons with psoriasis have 20% chance of developing a form of arthritis called psoriatic arthritis - it resembles rheumatoid arthritis and behaves like rheumatoid arthritis but the rheumatoid factor is negative. Psoriatic arthritis is fully treatable making you totally normal. But, being a genetic disease (i.e. it is in your genes as a part of your body) like diabetes and high blood pressure, some or the other medicine will have to be taken throughout life. It must be clearly stated here that while there is treatment for this disease in modern science, there is no scientific proof of its ‘cure’ or treatment in any other alternative systems of medicine.