Introduction

Written by john Sinatra

Rhumatoid Arthritis Rhumatoid arthritis is a painful and disabling systemic autoimmune disorder that causes the joints in a person’s body to be attacked by their own immune system. This causes inflammation of the joints and leads to reduced mobility making normal daily functions both difficult and extremely arduous.Rhumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that is distinguished by inflammation of the lining of the joints which leads to joint damage.  Because Rhumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease it may never go away and can frequently flare up causing the sufferer much discomfort.  The systemic nature of the disease may cause it to affect the person’s organs as well. No one knows the exact cause of Rheumatoid arthritis.  Researchers agree that the body’s immune system has an important role to play in the disease, and many debate whether rhumatoid arthritis may be several different diseases manifesting themselves in one with many common features.  People with Rhumatoid arthritis have abnormal immune systems that register the body’s normal, healthy tissue as foreign matter and attack it.  Some people suffering from this disease have elevated levels of rheumatoid factor.  Typically the higher the levels of the rheumatoid factor the worse and more severe a persons symptoms are.  Not all people who have elevated rheumatoid factors have rhumatoid arthritis though and not all people who have rhumatoid arthritis have elevated levels of the rheumatoid factor. Women are much more likely to be diagnosed with and suffer from rhumatoid arthritis, although the men who do get the disease appear to suffer much more severely from it.  Rheumatoid arthritis can affect anyone, including children, but symptoms usually will surface between the ages of 30 to 50.  Many women that suffer from rhumatoid arthritis experience a remission of the disease during pregnancy.  This has caused researchers to study the affects of hormones present during pregnancy on rhumatoid arthritis to determine what causes this to occur.  Symptoms of the disease most often return, in a more severe and intense way, after the baby is born.  Researchers are also studying what role genetics and possibly infections may play in causing rhumatoid arthritis.Rhumatoid arthritis generally first affects the smaller joints such as fingers, wrists, and hands.  The disease will affect both sides of the body evenly, so a person suffering from rhumatoid arthritis will feel pain equally in their right hand and left hand, if they are being affected.  This is one of the determining symptoms of the disease. Determining whether or not a person has rhumatoid arthritis can be a long and arduous process.  There are many different tools a doctor may use to determine if someone has the disease including a medical history, x-ray, lab work, and a physical exam.  During the medical history a doctor will take a brief medical history and questions will be asked to better help them determine if a person is in fact suffering from rhumatoid arthritis.  The doctor will want to know when the pain is the most severe, if the pain is symmetrical, if there is stiffness in the morning, and which joints are feeling pain.  During the physical exam the doctor will check for telltale symptoms such as joint swelling, joint tenderness, loss of motion in the joints and joint misalignment.  The doctor may also check to see if the rhumatoid arthritis has spread to other organs such as the skin, eyes and lungs.  Doctors may also order a complete blood count, as well as check Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, C-Reactive Proteins, and the rheumatoid factor as well as ordering an x-ray, MRI, joint ultrasound and bone densitometry to see if a person is indeed suffering from rhumatoid arthritis.

 

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