Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis or “RA” is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system mistakenly attacks its own body tissues. This disease affects the lining of joints causing pain and swelling. Eventually the swelling can lead to bone erosion and joint deformity. RA can happen to anyone at any age, but the majority of people who have to endure this disease are women over the age of 40.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. While inflammation of the tissue around the joints and inflammatory arthritis are characteristic features of rheumatoid arthritis, the disease can also cause inflammation and injury in other organs in the

The type of treatment chosen depends on the type of arthritis and the effects it has on the patient as well as the severity of the disease. Other factors to consider are the age of the patient and the joints affected. Bearing in mind that different people exhibit different reactions to different medications, treatment in this case is individualized but includes a combination of joint protection methods and medication. For rheumatoid arthritis, the Initial treatment starts with non steroidal ant inflammatory drugs and other simple analgesic but as the inflammation progresses, slow acting anti rheumatoid drugs which are aimed at modifying the disease are introduced. They are added progressively as the inflammation progresses in order to suppress the process that leads to chronic inflammation (Amin 1995).

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic syndrome that is characterized by inflammation of the peripheral joints, but it may also involve the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and eyes. The prevalence of this autoimmune disease is between 0.3% to 1.5% of the population in the United States (Feinberg, pp 815). It affects women two to three times more often than men, and the onset of RA is usually between 25 and 50 years of age, but it can occur at any age (Reed, pp 584). RA can be diagnosed by establishing the presence of persistent joint pain, swelling in a symmetric distribution, and prolonged morning stiffness. RA usually affects multiple joints, such as the hands, wrists, knees, elbows, feet, shoulders, hips, and small

In general, arthritis is a group of more than one hundred inflammatory diseases that damage joints and their surrounding structures, resulting in symptomatic pain, disability, and system wide inflammation (Rogers). Out of the one hundred plus types of arthritis, the two most common are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

In osteoarthritis, the cartilage at the end of bones wears down and produces rough, hard, edges of bone which cause trouble. This generally begins after 40, and 16 million in the U.S. have it. In rheumatoid arthritis, the cartilage at the end of bones is destroyed and is replaced with scar tissue. Then swelling occurs, and the joints may eventually fuse together. While osteoarthritis only affects individual joints, rheumatoid arthritis ultimately affects all synovial joints in a person's body.

If ones doctor suspects RA they may perform blood test to check for protein in the blood (This is present in about 2 in 3 people with RA. However, about 1 in 20 of the normal population has rheumatoid factor), and x-rays of the hands and feet may be done to detect any early deformations of the joints. If an individual’s doctor suspects that they may have RA, they usually will refer the patient to a rheumatologist who specialize in the joints and this type of disease. There is no cure for RA, but proper treatment for RA can make a big difference in reducing symptoms and to improve quality of life. Some of the main aims of treatment are: to decrease the disease from progressing to prevent joint damage, to reduce pain and stiffness in the affected joints, to minimize any disability caused by pain, joint damage, or deformities. A common medication prescribed for RA are disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS) such as methotrexate, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine. This can be with medication such as steroids, NSAIDS, and often times will treat with pain killers because the pain is so intense. Eating a healthy diet and excising is always

Arthritis affects more than just the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks various joints, internal organs,

Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are both types of arthritis. Both require medication that can help the disease, but the medication have side effects such as affecting the heart, kidney, lungs, and the skin. Neither rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis have any known cures. According to the website healthline.com, “Both types of arthritis are more common in women than men. Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis are more prevalent in older adults, but RA can develop at any age.” Rheumatoid arthritis is worse than osteoarthritis and yet unpredictable. Patients that have Rheumatoid arthritis have a higher chance to develop lymphoma and lupus. The major goal from the doctor for both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis is to reduce

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. normally the body’s immune system attacks and protects the body against foreign substance, with RA the immune system accidently attacks the joints. When the joints are mistakenly attacked inflammation occurs which causes the tissues to thicken thus resulting in pain and swelling of the joints. When this inflammation is undetected damage to the cartilage can occur, when this happens the spacing between the bones become smaller, the joints may become loose, painful, unstable and may also lose their mobility and deformity of the joints can occur.

may become more and more difficult. It is important to treat and diagnose rheumatoid arthritis as soon as possible. The joint damage of rheumatoid arthritis is not just progressive, but is hidden. The amount of joint damage increases quickly. The synovial membrane thickens and accumulates synovial fluid, which can cause pain and tenderness in the peripheral joints. The membrane then produces an abnormal granulation tissue called pannus.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be a serious joint and muscle condition that hinders the quality of life of anyone who acquires this disease. There’s many things to consider in order to understand this disease. Some of those topics include autoimmune etiology, RA vs osteoporosis, genetics and environmental factors, assessments, who’s at risk, treatment, physical activity, prevention, and showing you how RA can affect oral health. There’s no known prevention for RA, the sooner you seek care from a provider, the better your chances to minimize the damage it may cause.

Rheumatoid arthritis or (RA) can be difficult to diagnose for several reasons and there are many ways to diagnose it. Since there is no single test for the disease, there are just three ways to specify whether the patient has the disease or not. In addition, the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and other types of arthritis diseases can be similar that makes the diagnosing process inaccurate. Moreover, the symptoms vary from patient to another and it develops over time, so it can be severe in some people than the others can. As a result, doctors use several ways to diagnose this disease and to rule out the others. At the beginning, doctors always ask the patients to describe the symptoms and if it changed over time or not. In addition, they

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily attacks all synovial joints. RA is the second most common form of arthritis, with osteoarthritis being the most common (Clements, 2011). It can occur at any age, however it generally affects those between the age of 30 and 50 (Marieb and Hoehn, 2013). If left untreated, active rheumatoid arthritis can cause joint damage, frailty, a decrease in quality of life, cardiovascular disorders along with other dire consequences (Scott, Wolfe, & Huizinga, 2010).

According to research, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most popular autoimmune disease. RA is known to be a prolonged, systemic disease that causes inflammation. This inflammation can potentially disturb the synovial tissue that is in the body which eventually leads to damage in the joints, disabling functional abilities, and sometimes even leading to death. Many different factors can be held accountable for the diagnosis (Korczowska, 2014). Throughout this display of research many different ranges of aspects will be discussed. This illness is seen in tremendous amounts amongst physical therapy. The etiology, which happens to be the cause of this case of arthritis, and the signs and symptoms, will be revealed. Certain medical and