Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease that is progressive, long term, and disabling. It is a chronic inflammatory disorder that causes joint pain and damage throughout the body, including skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels. This disease is three times more likely to affect women than men.
Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis range from mild to severe. Usually, the same joints on both sides of the body are affected by these symptoms. The most common ones are:
- Swelling, stiffness, and pain in joints
- Joint deformity
- Symmetrical joint involvement
- Walking unsteadily
- Weakness
- Loss of mobility and function
- Tender, warm and swollen joints
- Fatigue
- Fever
- The feeling of not being well
Nearly around 40 percent of people who have rheumatoid arthritis have symptoms that do not affect the joints. The other parts of the body that are commonly affected by the symptoms are skin, eyes, lungs, heart, kidneys, salivary glands, blood vessels, nerve tissue, and bone marrow.
Causes
Rheumatoid arthritis usually develops when the immune system attacks the synovium, which is a lining of the membrane that surrounds the joints. As a result, there is inflammation that thickens the synovium which ultimately destroys the cartilage and bone within the joint. The tendons and ligaments that hold the joint also get stretched and weaken and the joint loses its shape and alignment. There is no specific cause for the immune system to attack the synovium but genes, environmental factors, and viral and bacterial infections have been commonly found as triggers.
Treatment
There is no full cure for rheumatoid arthritis but with the right treatment, the symptoms can usually be managed. Treatment can help with the reduction of inflammation to the joints, pain relief, minimize the loss of function of joints due to pain, damage or deformity, slow down the pace of damage to the joints. The types of medication will be prescribed depending on the severity of the disorder. These usually include Nonsteroidal inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs), Steroids, Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs(DMARDs), and Biologic agents.
Physical therapy and occupational therapy is recommended to keep joints mobile and flexible. If medication and therapy do not help then surgery may be prescribed to repair damaged joints and reduce pain. Synovectomy, tendon repair, joint fusion, and total joint replacement are some of the procedures that may be prescribed in some cases.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful condition that causes joint damage and makes it difficult for a person to carry out daily functions. Early diagnosis and treatment can often reduce the risks and complications of long term problems.
Disclaimer: The information in no way constitutes, or should be construed as medical advice. Nor is the above article an endorsement of any research findings discussed in the article an endorsement for any of the source publications.
