Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an intimidating disease in which the immune system and its response are disrupted and may cause confusing health concerns, so, let's take a look at a short TED-Ed video that breaks down the complex immune system into small, easily digestible bits of information.
I am sure you have lots of pressing questions, so, let me answer some of the questions that are most pressing for a majority of RA patients.
What is rheumatoid arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis is a complex, systemic autoimmune disease that causes the patient's immune system to misidentify healthy body tissues as foreign invaders. When this happens, the immune system attacks these healthy tissues causing pain, inflammation, and stiffness in joints.
What are the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of RA may come and go in spurts called flares. These symptoms include
pain, stiffness, tenderness, and swelling in more than one joint,
symmetrical symptoms affecting both sides of the body,
weight loss,
fever, commonly a low-grade fever between 99.0° and 99.9°,
fatigue, tiredness, or exhaustion, and
weakness.
Rheumatoid arthritis may cause other symptoms, depending on which organs become affected by the disease. Continued follow-up care with your primary care physician (PCP) and you rheumatologist is essential to managing RA's disease progression.
Who’s at risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis?
According to the CDC, researchers have identified several risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing RA. These risk factors include
age - The likelihood of developing RA increases with age.
sex - Women are 2 to 3 times more at risk of developing RA than men.
genetics - People born with a certain gene have a greater risk of developing RA.
smoking - Studies have shown a correlation between smoking and the onset of RA and have shown that smoking can worsen RA symptoms.
obesity - Obesity increases your risk of developing RA, and the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to develop RA.
What causes rheumatoid arthritis?
A specific cause of RA is currently unknown, though there have been several risk factors identified by researchers.
However generally speaking, rheumatoid arthritis is the result of the immune system mistakenly marking healthy cells and body tissues as foreign invaders.
How is rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed?
An RA diagnosis is made using a combination of observations, including
physical examination,
review of symptoms,
imaging test, such as x-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, and
blood and urine tests.
How is rheumatoid arthritis treated?
Because there is no cure for RA, treatments aim to accomplish three main goals: (1) to slow disease progression, (2) to prevent joint and organ damage and joint deformity, and (3) to ease symptoms.
Early treatment is crucial to your prognosis. Your rheumatologist will likely begin you on a medication in a class of drugs known as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). DMARDs not only treat symptoms of RA, but they also slow disease progression. These drugs include Methotrexate, Plaquenil, and Arava.
Other medication classes include biological response modifiers, Janus kinase inhibitors (JAK inhibitors), corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and opioids.
Sometimes, other interventions may be necessary. These interventions may include physical or occupational therapy, clinical counseling, water therapy, exercise, nutritional interventions, or gardening. In severe situations, surgery might become necessary.
*** Please note that the CDC has released information to help at-risk patients, including RA patients, remain safe during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Please follow this link to read the CDC's recommendations. ***
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