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Rheumatoid Arthritis Facts
Rheumatoid Arthritis is one of the most common type of arthritis. This is usually a life-long disease that needs support and understanding from family and friends. Here are some rheumatoid arthritis facts that may help the patient and their families in understanding rheumatoid arthritis.
Joint is the place in the body where two bones meet. The end part of the bones is normally covered by cartillage, which primary function is for easy movement of the bones. The joints are protected and supported by joint capsules, but in the presence of rheumatoid arthritis, the autoimmune system, which protects the body from infections attacks it's the joint tissues for unclear reasons.
The result of this is pain, swelling, soreness and stiffness, which are felt by the patient. The person living with rheumatoid arthritis may feel pain in symmetrical pattern. This means that if the affected area is one hand or one knee, the other pair will also be affected. Normally, rheumatoid arthritis affects the wrist joints but it can also affect other parts of the body.
The severity of pain from one patient may also be different from another patient. There are some patients who live with the disease for couple of months while there are some who live with rheumatoid arthritis for more than a year or more.
There are patients who also feel better for couple of months only to have flares later while there are some who active in their activities for many years only to have disability later in life.
Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may include:
tender joints
symmtrical pain of affected limbs
join inflammation which normally affects knees, hips, shoulders
The reason why autoimmune system attacks itself is still unclear for scientists but recent researches shows that several factors may contribute to it. Some of these factors may include:
Genetic factors - studies show promising results that shows that genetic factors affect the development of this autoimmune disease. It shows promising results that shows that genes may be a detemining factor of the disease will develop and how severe the disease will be.
Environment - scientist believe that environment factors can trigger the development of the disease. A bacterial or viral infection can also trigger the disease but it iss still not clear which specific agent causes the disease but this does not mean that arthritis is a contagious disease.
Other factors like hormonal level are also being studied in developing rheumatoid arthritis as women are more susceptible to develop this disease than men.
Diagnosis
There is no single method used to diagnose arthritis, there are several methods that your doctor will order to rule out other possible medical problems aside from arthritis.
Some of the methods use to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis may include:
Medical history - the medical history of the patient which may include the charactristic of joint pain and when exactly it had begun will be noted by the doctor.
Physical examination- the doctor will see the affected limb which may include your joints, muscles, reflexes and the skin.
Laboratory tests - lab test that will show antibody in the blood will mean that you have rheumatoid arthritis.
Radiology test - radiology test like x-ray will be helpful in determining the damage of the rheumatoid arthritis to your joints.
Treatment
Treatment for arthritis depend on the pain and severity of damage to your joints. Treatments are usually done with combination of other treatments depending on the response of the individual to the disease.
Some common treatments used to treat patients may include:
Arthritis medications
Healthy diet
Physical therapy
Proper exrcise
Surgery
Among all the treatments, surgery is the last recourse of doctors when the pain of the patient is intense and severe.
