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Rheumatoid
Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is traditionally thought to be a chronic,
inflammatory autoimmune disorder that results in the immune
system attacking the joints, and causes a disabling as well as
inflammatory condition leading to considerable loss of mobility
consequent to the amount of pain as well as joint destruction
being felt. It is a systemic disease that in many instances,
affects extra-articular tissues in the body that also includes
the skin, heart, blood vessels, lungs as well as muscles.
May Last For Years
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic illness which can last for
years, but patients may also experience long periods when there
are no perceivable symptoms. It is a dangerous disease that has
potential to destroy the joints as well as cause functional
disability. It results in swelling, pain, redness as well as
stiffness, and may also occur in tissues around the joints
including the tendons, ligaments as well as muscles.
Rheumatoid arthritis is not unusual and is believed to affect
over two million Americans, and is thrice as common amongst
women as in men. There is no racial bias either, and it can
begin at any age, though it is usual to affect people over
forty years of age. There is also evidence to suggest that it
can be a genetic disease.
There is no certainty as to what causes rheumatoid arthritis
even though infectious agents like viruses, bacteria as well as
fungi are suspected, but none have been proven. It is the
subject of much research right across the globe, and genetic
factors seem to be suspected as too are certain injections that
might cause the immune system to attack the body’s own tissues
thereby causing inflammation in organs such as the eyes and
lungs.
The environment too is thought to cause rheumatoid arthritis,
and recently, scientists reported that smoking tobacco could
increase the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. The
symptoms too come and go and depend on the degree of tissue
inflammation. Inflamed body tissues mean the disease is active
and when the inflammation subsides, the disease is inactive. In
an active state, the symptoms seen are feelings of fatigue,
lack of appetite, aches in joints and muscles, low grade fever
as well as stiffness. Being a systemic disease, rheumatoid
arthritis inflammation can spread to organs and areas of the
body other than the joints.
The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis begins with a meeting
between the doctor and patient. The doctor will review the
history of symptoms, makes an examination of the joints to look
for inflammation and deformity, and checks the skin for
rheumatoid nodules as also other parts of the body for
inflammation. However, there is no known cure for rheumatoid
arthritis and the goal of treatment is reduction of the joint
inflammation and pain as well as maximizing joint function
while preventing further destruction and deformity of the
joints.
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