Rheumatoid Arthritis

One of the most common things you experience as you age is arthritis. The term arthritis means inflammation in a joint.1 Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that typically affects small joints in your hands or feet.2 Rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of your joints, causing a swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity.2

Arthritis is considered an autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks your body’s tissues.2 Not only does rheumatoid arthritis affect your joints it can also can affect other organs in the body such as the skin, eyes, lungs or blood vessels.2 Doctors can’t explain what triggers rheumatoid arthritis in the body, some studies suggest that a virus or bacteria causes the change in the immune system.1 Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include:

·      Tender, warm, swollen joints2

·      Morning stiffness that may last for hours2

·      Firm bumps of tissue under the skin on your arms2

·      Fatigue, fever, or weight loss2

Early rheumatoid arthritis normally affects smaller joints first such as joints that attach your fingers to your hands or your toes to your feet.2 As the disease progresses, it may spread to bigger joints in the wrists, ankles, knees or shoulders.2 Often you see symptoms that occur in the same joints on both sides of your body.2 Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis vary in severity and may come and go.2 As the disease progresses, over time it can cause the joints to deform and shift out of place.2

 Rheumatoid Arthritis. (2015, March 2). Retrieved November 1, 2015.  

There is no cure for RA but there are some treatments that can help decrease pain and discomfort.2 Treatments of RA include medications, rest, exercise and sometimes surgery.1 Medications can reduce inflammation in your joints in order to prevent or slow damage.2 Most of the drugs used to treat RA can have some potentially serious side effects.2 Doctors generally like to prescribe medications with the fewest side effects before progressing into harder treatments.2 My younger brother was diagnosed with RA when he was 17 years old. It took a lot of blood tests and a week stay in the hospital before he was diagnosed with RA. He takes a rather strong dose of medication that lowers his immune system and has other serious side effects. He hasn’t experienced any of the serious side effects and it keeps his pain to a minimum.

Arthritis is a common disease that happens as you age. It is important to know your body and see a doctor if you are experiencing any of the symptoms above. There may not be a cure to RA, but there are some techniques to minimize your pain.

1What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis? - WebMD. (2005). Retrieved October 25, 2015.

2Rheumatoid arthritis. (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2015.