Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that typically affects the small joints in your hands and feet. RA is usually characterized by inflammation in the membranes lining the affected joints, which can cause pain, stiffness, warmth, swelling and joint damage. While RA can strike patients of any age, it is most commonly found in patients over the age of 40. Unlike osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of the joints, causing a painful swelling that can cause bone erosion and joint deformity. This disorder is caused by the body’s immune system mistakenly attacking our own body’s tissues. Because of this, RA sufferers sometimes have damage to other organs of the body, including the skin, eyes, lungs and blood vessels.

RA is typically accompanied by symptoms such as tender, swollen joints, morning stiffness that can last for hours, firm bumps under the skin on your arms, fatigue, fever and weight loss. While RA can be difficult to diagnose in its early stages, doctors can perform a number of tests to diagnose you. They will likely do bloodwork to determine if you have an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, or sed rate), which indicates the presence of an inflammatory process in the body. Tests to gauge reflexes and muscle strength will likely be performed, along with X-rays to diagnose and monitor the disease.

If you have symptoms of RA, it’s important to seek medical attention and monitor the disease. Along with the painful symptoms in the joints, RA can put people at greater risk for a number of other diseases. According to the Mayo Clinic, these risks include:

Osteoporosis: RA itself, along with some medications used to treat it, can increase your risk for this condition, which weakens your bones and makes them more prone to fracture.

Carpal tunnel syndrome: If RA attacks the wrists, the inflammation it causes can compress the nerve that controls most of your hand and finger functions.

Heart problems: RA can increase your risk of hardened or blocked arteries, leading to an increased risk of stroke. It can also cause inflammation of the sac that encloses your heart.

Lung disease: People with RA are at an increased risk of inflammation and scarring of the lung tissues, which can lead to shortness of breath and other complications.