Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the joints. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses where the body attacks its own immune system. The autoimmune system is made up of cells that destroy invaders such as infections. Patients with autoimmune diseases have antibodies in their blood that attack their body tissues that are usually the sight of inflammation; this can occur in organs as well, not just the joints. RA can affect the eyes, skin, heart, and lungs. Arthritis means joint inflammation whereas rheumatoid arthritis causes redness, swelling, stiffness, and pain in the joint. Inflammation in the joints causes swelling, pain, and tenderness to the touch and during movement. It is possible to have a warm feeling at the sight of the inflammation and restricted movement. RA can also cause inflammation in tendons, ligaments, and muscles around the joints.

RA is a chronic illness and lasts for years. As RA progresses, the chronic inflammation leads to the destruction of cartilage, bone, and ligaments of the joints leading to deformities of the joints and lessens the mobility. This damage can even happen early on in the disease and can occur without a patient feeling more pain than usual. Even though this disease goes on for many years, people can go into remissions and won’t feel any symptoms for awhile. It is common for patients to have remissions and flares, which are times when the symptoms and inflammation return. It hasn’t been determined what causes the remissions or the flares. Symptoms differ from person to person, but can include lack of appetite, low fever, fatigue, and stiffness. Usually the stiffness occurs in the morning and may last for more than an hour.

Rheumatoid arthritis is common in the United States affecting more than one million people and it affects all races equally, though women are three times more likely than men to suffer from this disease. It can affect someone at any age, but typically occurs after the age of 40 and before 60. Nobody knows the cause of RA, but scientists suggest it is genetically inherited. Some environmental factors increase your chances of getting RA such as smoking tobacco.

Rheumatoid arthritis cannot be diagnosed with a specific test. The diagnosis process could take a little while and would include medical history questions asked by a doctor, a physical exam, and possible blood tests or X-rays. The number one thing that would help with a diagnosis is for the patient to describe to the doctor all the symptoms they have as accurately as possible. One of the possible blood tests is the erythrocyte sedimentary rate which would show the level of inflammation in the body. X-rays show swelling of soft tissue and bone loss. If you have symptoms such as stiffness in the morning, joint pain and swelling make sure to tell your doctor all of your symptoms to help in a diagnosis.