Rheumatoid Arthritis An Overview

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis (or RA) is an inflammatory disorder. It is an autoimmune disorder, which means that your immune system mistakenly attacks your own tissues. It often affects the small joints in your hands and feet. Rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of your joints and causes swelling that can result in joint deformity due to bone erosion. It can also cause fevers and fatigue throughout your body. Rheumatoid arthritis can vary in severity and may even go away for awhile. Flare-ups may alternate with periods of remission when the swelling and other symptoms may fade or disappear.

Rheumatoid Arthritis – The Symptoms

The disorder usually starts in your smaller joints; wrists and hands, ankles and feet. As it progresses, other joints such as hips, knees, shoulder and neck can become involved. Commonly, symptoms are symmetrical which means that the same joints will be affected on both sides of your body. Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis may include joint swelling and pain to the point of the joint being tender to the touch. It also includes more general symptoms of fatigue, fever and weight loss. It can appear as morning stiffness that may last for hours. You may experience rheumatoid nodules which are firm bumps under the skin on your arms and commonly red and puffy hands.

Rheumatoid Arthritis – The Causes

Unlike osteoarthritis which is damage to the joint from use, rheumatoid arthritis has to do with your immune system attacking the synovium, the lining that surrounds your joints. This causes an inflammation that thickens the lining and then can affect the cartilage and bone in the joint. The tendons and ligaments weaken and stretch and the joint loses shape and function.

Rheumatoid arthritis causes joint damage that can be debilitating as well as disfiguring. You may have difficulty doing the things you do every day. In addition to joints, RA can affect other parts of your body. It can affect your eyes primarily through inflammation, such as uveitis which is an inflammation of the interior of the eye or episcleritis which is an inflammation of the white part of the eye. Inflammation within the eye can lead to Glaucoma or Cataracts. Rheumatoid arthritis can also affect your lungs, mostly through inflammation, but also you can develop rheumatoid nodules in the lungs. Although they don’t usually cause symptoms or pain, they can rupture and cause your lung to collapse. More commonly inflammation of the lining of the lungs and the fluid the inflammation causes may bring problems. Ultimately RA can cause scarring in the lungs. If you have rheumatoid arthritis and experience eye pain, vision changes or breathing problems, you should consult your doctor.

It is unknown what starts this process. There may be a genetic component, but it is not an inherited disease. Your genes, however, may be more susceptible to certain viruses and bacteria that may trigger the disorder. There are known risk factors for RA. Women are more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than men are. And while it can occur at any age, it usually begins between 40 and 60. Although you don’t directly inherit the disorder, if a member of your family has it, you may have an increased risk. Smoking cigarettes increases your risk, and quitting can reduce risk.

While you may discuss your symptoms first with your regular doctor, you will probably be referred to a Rheumatologist. In its early stages, rheumatoid arthritis can be difficult to diagnose because it mimics symptoms of other diseases. To diagnose rheumatoid arthritis your doctor will do a physical examination and will check your joints for swelling, redness and warmth as well as muscle strength and reflexes. He or she will probably order imaging tests as well as a blood test to help with the diagnosis.

Although treatment cannot cure rheumatoid arthritis, it can lessen the severity and slow the progress of the disorder and many more options for treatment have been developed in the last few decades. In addition to rheumatoid arthritis medications, you might consider physical therapy to help you learn how to do things with less pain and meditation and stress release may help as well.