Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that typically affects the small joints in your hands and feet. Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of your joints, causing painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity.

The immune system mistakenly attacks the joints, which leads to inflammation and pain. This condition commonly affects the hands, knees, or ankles and usually the same joint on both sides of the body, such as both hands or both knees.

As an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, RA means that your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake, causing inflammation in the affected parts of the body. It primarily attacks the joints, often involving many joints at once. Rheumatoid arthritis can also affect other organs, including the eyes.

Despite its challenging symptoms, there are effective treatments and therapies to manage RA. Everyone’s experience with RA is different, but having access to comprehensive information can be immensely helpful.

RheumatoidArthritis.org provides extensive resources for understanding and living with RA. Symptoms of RA include joint stiffness, which is usually worse in the mornings and after inactivity, fatigue, fever, and loss of appetite.

The Arthritis Foundation offers support resources, research, and advocacy to help those with arthritis live their best lives. They emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and treatment in managing the disease effectively.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect smaller joints first. As the disease progresses, symptoms often spread to the wrists, knees, and other joints.

The Arthritis Foundation also offers patient education for those living with RA. They provide a variety of resources and tools for daily living, as well as access to one-on-one support.

Mayo Clinic provides a detailed overview of symptoms and causes of rheumatoid arthritis. Understanding these can help in managing the condition more effectively.

For more in-depth information, the OrthoInfo page from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) offers comprehensive insights into rheumatoid arthritis, including its impact on different joints throughout the body.

Lastly, the Rheumatology Research Foundation is at the forefront of research on rheumatic diseases, working towards discoveries that could impact the lives of millions living with conditions like RA.