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Covid makes knee AF flare up

An IAA member commented that covid has made her AF knee more painful. The knee is settling down now and is expected to make a full return to pre-covid function, but it's a reminder that respiratory infections like covid cause systemic inflammation that affects knees. The impact of respiratory infections can be more damaging in the months following an operation when the body is in an active healing phase and trying to resolve inflammation, so this is a good time to take precautions.

Kayley

6 answers0 replies

6 Comments

Gardener

Jun 11

Thanks for the warning. My rheumatologist is excellent, a good thinker and very kind. She’s my favorite doctor. She isn’t a specialist in arthrofibrosis, like the doctor that works with Dr. Noyes in Cincinnati though. Her name is Kinga Vereczkey and she works in Pittsboro, NC.

kayleyusher

Jun 12

Replying to

Thanks for sharing your experience with the caring and thorough rheumatologist Dr Vereczkey, that will help other people.

Kayley

Sara Katrine Jandrup

Jan 07

Yes every incident causing systemic higher levels of inflammation makes the existing weak spots flare up - eeg all l my places of osteoarthritis (including the knee) flared up after my back operation - but I wonder if these temporary flare ups which is part of life can have longer consequences? Guess there is no answer to that..?

kayleyusher

Jan 07

Replying to

Hi Katrine,

Thanks for sharing your experiences. From my understanding of the science, I think that the impact on your knee of inflammation elsewhere in your body will depend on severity and duration. If the insult is large enough for long enough the body has a memory of it called epigenetics. This means that some genes will be blocked and others upregulated, and it influences how your body responds in the future.

So, for example, the cellular memory of my knee surgery (epigenetic regulation) means that my knee reacted to the systemic inflammation from stress by creating pain and inflammation in that one area. But the stimulus wasn't of long enough duration to transform more cells into myofibroblasts and activate them. Other types of strong and persistant inflammatorystimuli might though, which is why it's important to be tested and treated for autoimmune conditions.

Kayley

Gardener

Jun 09

Replying to

My journey with AF led me to discover that I test positive for autoimmunity. Prior to TKR surgery I knew that inflammation had run amok in my body and I started changing my diet to be more anti-inflammatory, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the AF after surgery. :-( I think some kind of epigenetic thing must’ve happened to cause this major transformation of my biology and I believe it was stress related. My rheumatologist suggested it might be useful to get some genetic testing done, and following the thread above I’m wondering if and what types of genetic testing might be helpful. Your thoughts? Thank you so much Kayley for your work on AF and for providing us with so much helpful info and this forum.

kayleyusher

Jun 10

Replying to

Hi,

I'm glad that your rheumatologist was helpful and tested you for autoimmunity! would you mind sharing the name? We're always on the lookout for helpful rheumatologists.

I'm not a clinician so I can't provide medical advice, but I wonder how much additional benefit there would be from genetic testing. The test you have already had for autoimmunity has revealed a significant variation that is likely impacting your arthrofibrosis. There could be additional factors, the downside to genetic testing is that in some countries you may find it difficult or extremely expensive to get health insurance if there is a positive result, so you should be informed about this aspect.

Kayley