Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints. The inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis is what can damage other parts of the body as well. While new types of medicines have improved treatment options, severe rheumatoid arthritis can still cause physical disabilities.
What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease. It means that your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake which causes inflammation in the affected parts of the body.
RA mainly attacks the joints, usually many joints at once. It commonly affects joints in the hands, wrists, and knees. In a joint with RA, the lining of the joint becomes inflamed which causes damage to joint tissue. This tissue damage can cause long-lasting or chronic pain, lack of balance, and deformity. RA can also affect other tissues throughout the body and cause problems in organs such as the heart, lungs, and eyes.
Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis
In a healthy individual, the immune system fights invaders such as viruses and bacteria. With an autoimmune disease like RA, the immune system mistakes the body’s cells for foreign invaders and releases inflammatory chemicals that attack those cells.
In RA, it attacks tissue lining around a joint that produces a fluid to help the joint move smoothly. The inflamed synovium gets thicker and makes the joint area feel painful and tender and look red and swollen, and moving the joint may be difficult.
Scientists believe people with RA may have certain genes that are activated by a trigger in the environment, such as a virus or bacteria, physical or emotional stress, or some other external factor.
Symptoms To Look Out For
Rheumatoid arthritis primarily affects the joints. It can cause problems in any joint in the body, even though the small joints in the hands and feet are often the first to be affected. It typically affects the joints symmetrically, but this is not always the case.
- Pain – the joint pain associated with RA is usually a throbbing and aching pain. It is often worse in the mornings and after a period of inactivity.
- Stiffness – joints affected by RA can feel stiff. For instance, if your hands are affected, you may not be able to fully bend your fingers or form a fist. Morning stiffness is a symptom of another type of arthritis, called osteoarthritis. Usually, it wears off within 30 minutes of getting up, but morning stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis often lasts longer than this.
- Swelling, warmth, and redness – the lining of joints affected by RA becomes inflamed which causes the joints to swell and become hot and tender to the touch.
Additional Symptoms
As well as problems affecting the joints, some people with rheumatoid arthritis have more general symptoms, such as:
- A poor appetite
- Weight loss
- Tiredness and a lack of energy
- Sweating
- A high temperature
The inflammation that’s part of rheumatoid arthritis can also sometimes cause problems in other areas of the body, such as:
- Chest pain – if the heart or lungs are affected
- Dry eyes – if the eyes are affected
Recommended Treatment
Clinical studies point out that remission of symptoms is more likely when treatment for RA begins early with medications known as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). However, there are various treatment options for the condition, including:
Medications
- NSAIDs
- Steroids
- Conventional DMARDs
- Biologic agents
- Targeted synthetic DMARDs
Recommended prescription medicine:
- Etoricoxib – is an effective pain reliever medication for arthritis. This medicine works by reducing the formation of substances in the body. These substances are the cause of swelling and pain.
Therapy
Your doctor may refer you to a physical or occupational therapist who can teach you exercises to help keep your joints flexible. The therapist may also suggest new ways to do daily tasks that will be easier on your joints.
Surgery
- Synovectomy
- Tendon repair
- Joint fusion
- Total joint replacement