Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease, Manage RA, and Improve Your Quality of Life!

Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease: 

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system,  which normally protects its health by attacking foreign substances like bacteria and viruses mistakenly attacks the joints. Rheumatoid

This creates inflammation that causes the tissue that lines the inside of joints (the synovium) to thicken, resulting in swelling and pain in and around the joints. The synovium makes a fluid that lubricates joints and helps them move smoothly.

If the inflammation goes unchecked,

it can damage cartilage, the elastic tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint, as well as the bones themselves. Over time, there is a loss of cartilage, and the joint spacing between bones can become smaller.

Joints can become loose, unstable, painful, and lose their mobility. Joint deformity also can occur. Joint damage cannot be reversed, and because it can occur early, doctors recommend early diagnosis and aggressive treatment to control RA.

Rheumatoid arthritis most commonly affects the joints of the hands, feet, wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles. The joint effect is usually symmetrical. That means if one knee or hand is affected, usually the other one is, too. Because RA also can affect body systems, such as the cardiovascular or respiratory systems, it is called a systemic disease. Systemic means “entire body.” 

Signs And Symptoms:

With RA, there are times when symptoms get worse, known as flares, and times when symptoms get better, known as remission.

Signs and symptoms of RA include:

• Pain or aching in more than one joint.
• Stiffness in more than one joint.
• Tenderness and swelling in more than one joint.
• The same symptoms on both sides of the body (such as in both hands or both knees).
• Weight loss.
• Fever.
• Fatigue or tiredness.
• Weakness.

Early rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect your smaller joints first, particularly the joints that attach your fingers to your hands and your toes to your feet. As the disease progresses, symptoms often spread to the wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, hips, and shoulders. In most cases, symptoms occur in the same joints on both sides of your body.

About 40 percent of the people who have rheumatoid arthritis also experience signs and symptoms that don’t involve the joints.

Rheumatoid arthritis can affect many non-joint structures, including:

• Skin.
• Eyes.
• Lungs.
• Heart.
• Kidneys.
• Salivary glands.
• Nerve tissue.
• Bone marrow.
• Blood vessels.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Causes:

RA is an autoimmune disease. Your immune system is supposed to attack foreigners in your body, like bacteria and viruses, by creating inflammation.

• In an autoimmune disease, the immune system mistakenly sends inflammation to your own healthy tissue.
• The immune system creates a lot of inflammation that is sent to your joints causing joint pain and swelling.
• If the inflammation remains present for a long period of time, it can cause damage to the joint.
• This damage typically cannot be reversed once it occurs. The cause of RA is not known.

There is evidence that autoimmune conditions run in families. For instance, certain genes that you are born with may make you more likely to get RA.

Arthritis Types:

Arthritis means inflammation or swelling of one or more joints. It describes more than 100 conditions that affect the joints, tissues around the joint, and other connective tissues. Specific symptoms vary depending on the type of arthritis but usually include joint pain and stiffness.

• Osteoarthritis.
• Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
• Childhood Arthritis.
• Fibromyalgia.
• Gout.
• Lupus.

Risk Factors:

Factors that may increase your risk of rheumatoid arthritis include:

• Your sex: Women are more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis.
• Age: Rheumatoid arthritis can occur at any age, but it most commonly begins between the ages of 40 and 60.
• Family history: If a member of your family has rheumatoid arthritis, you may have an increased risk of the disease.
• Smoking: Cigarette smoking increases your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, particularly if you have a genetic predisposition for developing the disease. Smoking also appears to be associated with greater disease severity.
• Environmental exposures: Although uncertain and poorly understood, some exposures such as asbestos or silica may increase the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
• Obesity: People who are overweight or obese appear to be at somewhat higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, especially in women diagnosed with the disease when they were 55 or younger.

Complications:

Rheumatoid arthritis increases your risk of developing:

• Osteoporosis: Rheumatoid arthritis itself, along with some medications used for treating rheumatoid arthritis, can increase your risk of osteoporosis, a condition that weakens your bones and makes them more prone to fracture.
• Rheumatoid nodules: These firm bumps of tissue most commonly form around pressure points, such as the elbows. However, these nodules can form anywhere in the body, including the lungs.
• Dry eyes and mouth: People who have rheumatoid arthritis are much more likely to experience Sjogren’s syndrome, a disorder that decreases the amount of moisture in your eyes and mouth.
• Infections: The disease itself and many of the medications used to combat rheumatoid arthritis can impair the immune system, leading to increased infections.
• Abnormal body composition: The proportion of fat compared to lean mass is often higher in people who have rheumatoid arthritis, even in people who have a normal body mass index (BMI).
• Carpal tunnel syndrome: If rheumatoid arthritis affects your wrists, the inflammation can compress the nerve that serves most of your hands and fingers.
• Heart problems: Rheumatoid arthritis can increase your risk of hardened and blocked arteries, as well as inflammation of the sac that encloses your heart.
• Lung disease: People with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk of inflammation and scarring of the lung tissues, which can lead to progressive shortness of breath.
• Lymphoma: Rheumatoid arthritis increases the risk of lymphoma, a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymph system.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosis:

A primary care physician may suspect RA based in part on a person’s signs and symptoms. If so, the patient will be referred to a rheumatologist as a specialist with specific training and skills to diagnose and treat RA.

In its early stages, RA may resemble other forms of inflammatory arthritis. No single test can confirm RA. To make a proper diagnosis, the rheumatologist will ask questions about personal and family medical history, perform a physical exam, and order diagnostic tests.

I. Medical History:

The doctor will ask about personal and family medical history as well as recent and current symptoms (pain, tenderness, stiffness, difficulty moving).

II. Physical Exam:

The doctor will examine each joint, looking for tenderness, swelling, warmth, and painful or limited movement. The number and pattern of joints affected can also indicate RA. For example, RA tends to affect joints on both sides of the body. The physical exam may reveal other signs, such as rheumatoid nodules or a low-grade fever.

III. Blood Tests:

The blood tests will measure inflammation levels and look for biomarkers such as antibodies (blood proteins) linked with RA.

IV. Inflammation:

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, or “sed rate”) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level are markers of inflammation. A high ESR or CRP is not specific to RA, but when combined with other clues, such as antibodies, helps make the RA diagnosis.

V. Antibodies:

Rheumatoid factor (RF) is an antibody found in about 80 percent of people with RA during the course of their disease. Because RF can occur in other inflammatory diseases, it’s not a sure sign of having RA.

But a different antibody anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) occurs primarily in patients with RA. That makes a positive anti-CCP test a stronger clue to RA. But anti-CCP antibodies are found in only 60 to 70 percent of people with RA and can exist even before symptoms start.

VI. Imaging Tests:

An X-ray, ultrasound, or magnetic resonance imaging scan may be done to look for joint damage, such as erosions a loss of bone within the joint, and narrowing of joint space.

But if the imaging tests don’t show joint damage that doesn’t rule out RA. It may mean that the disease is in an early stage and hasn’t yet damaged the joints.

Treatments:

Since there is no known cure for rheumatoid arthritis, early detection is important when it comes to taking advantage of all available treatments. Although medical professionals provide various medications and possible surgery, there is a wide range of responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of patients. This includes increasing their knowledge about rheumatoid arthritis, as well as practicing good joint protection. Rest and proper exercise will also ease the symptoms of
the disease.

Early treatment for rheumatoid arthritis is important for the prevention of a worse state of affairs. Years ago, a large number of rheumatoid arthritis patients were disabled within the first two to three years of the disease. It is a known fact that some people are more susceptible than others to the joint damage and disability associated with the disease. For this reason, not all patients require aggressive treatment.

The goals of RA treatment are to:

• Stop inflammation or reduce it to the lowest possible level (put the disease in remission).
• Relieve symptoms.
• Prevent joint and organ damage.
• Improve function and overall well-being.
• Reduce long-term complications.

To meet these goals, the doctor will follow these strategies:

• Early, aggressive treatment – to reduce or stop inflammation as quickly as possible.
• Targeting remission or another goal (treat-to-target) – work toward little or no signs or symptoms of active inflammation
• Tight control – keep inflammation at the lowest level possible.

Medical Professionals: Common Treatments:

For the most part, there are two main focuses pertaining to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

• Reducing inflammation.
• and relieving the symptoms (namely the pain) top the list for doctors and patients.

Doctors will most likely prescribe medication, as well as suggest a variety of things a patient can concentrate on while at home.

• For more severe cases, surgery is elected, such as total joint replacement.
• When patients exhibit a low potential for joint damage, drugs such as Plaquenil, Azulfidine and Minocin may be prescribed. These selections present the lowest number of side effects.
• When rheumatoid arthritis is moderate to severe, drugs like Trexakk, Arava, Enbrel, Humira, Remicade, and Rheumatrex may be prescribed.
• Stronger, newer drugs, such as Orencia and Rituxan are given to patients who do not respond well to the above drugs.

Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis – Self -Care:

You can take steps to care for your body if you have rheumatoid arthritis. These self-care measures, when used along with your rheumatoid arthritis medications, can help you manage your signs and symptoms. RA affects many aspects of daily living including work, leisure, and social activities.  Fortunately, there are multiple low-cost strategies in the community that is proven to increase the quality of life.

• Get physically active:
  • Experts recommend that ideally, adults be moderately physically active for 150 minutes per week, like walking, swimming, or biking 30 minutes a day for five days a week.
  • You can break these 30 minutes into three separate ten-minute sessions during the day.
  • Regular physical activity can also reduce the risk of developing other chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and depression.

• Go to effective physical activity programs:
  •  If you are worried about making arthritis worse or unsure how to safely exercise, participation in physical activity programs can help reduce pain and disability related to RA and improve mood and the ability to move.
  • Classes take place at local, parks, and community centers. These classes can help people with RA feel better. ….. Try to keep joints moving and avoid staying in the same position for a long time as stiffness may develop.
• Join a self-management education class:
  •  Participants with arthritis and (including RA) gain confidence in learning how to control their symptoms, how to live well with arthritis, and how arthritis affects their lives.
• Stop Smoking:
  •  Cigarette smoking makes the disease worse and can cause other medical problems.
  • Smoking can also make it more difficult to stay physically active, which is an important part of managing RA.
• Maintain a Healthy Weight:
  •   Obesity can cause numerous problems for people with RA and so it’s important to maintain a healthy weight.
  • a healthier approach towards your lifestyle will also ease the effects of rheumatoid arthritis.
  • This includes losing weight and not smoking, as well as eating a balanced diet filled with fruits, vegetables, protein, low-fat dairy, vitamin C, and calcium.

All of these self-care measures can ease the symptoms and make living with rheumatoid arthritis a much easier task.

Summing Up and Tips:

Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious disease. It is but important that the moment it is accurately diagnosed, the proper treatment procedures are carried out immediately. Doing so would counteract its harmful effects on the body.

Remember there is no cure for this. These tips may only alleviate symptoms.

• Early treatment is better for this to reduce pain and suffering. Consult your doctor if you think you may have this disease.
• Since this affects the heart also, regular exercise is highly recommended. Check your blood pressure, cholesterol on a regular basis.
• Aerobic exercise is highly recommended. Make sure that you are comfortable with this before jumping on.
• Take an adequate amount of Vitamin D every day.
• You may also want to take calcium supplements on a regular basis after consulting your physician.
• Get good sleep. Avoid taking sleeping pills.
• Have an active lifestyle. Do not have a hectic schedule which may worsen your situation. Never do anything too fast which may hurt your joins.
• When you get up do it slowly to distribute the shock evenly to your joints. Use a proper chair with good back support.
• Make your furniture comfortable at home. You should feel easy to sit and get up from your sofa, bed, etc.
• Have a healthy diet. Consult a dietitian and get the right diet for your age and for your physical status.
• Avoid food or supplements which will make your situation worse.
• Network with other patients and share your experience.

If you find this article useful, don’t forget to share it with your friends and family, as you might help someone in need. Thanks.

Disclaimer: “Nothing in this article makes any claim to offer cures or treatment of any disease or illness. If you are sick please consult with your doctor.”

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