Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects more than just your joints. In some people, the condition can damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels. An autoimmune disorder, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body’s tissues.
Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, which means that your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake, causing inflammation (painful swelling) in the affected parts of the body. RA mainly attacks the joints, usually many joints at once. RA commonly affects joints in the hands, wrists, and knees.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that causes the chronic inflammation of joints. RA tends to begin slowly, with minor symptoms that come and go, usually on both sides of the body.
Talking with your rheumatologist, the four stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are also known as early-stage RA, moderate-stage RA, severe RA, and end-stage RA. Symptoms may not appear in the early stages.
People with rheumatoid arthritis often have an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, also known as sed rate) or C-reactive protein (CRP) level, which may indicate the presence of an inflammatory process in the body. Other common blood tests look for rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies. Imaging tests are also used for diagnosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, swelling, and pain in a person’s joints. The condition is chronic and progressive and can be disabling.
Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) vary for each individual. Some people have long periods with few or no symptoms, while others experience symptoms for months at a time. The most common symptoms include stiff, painful joints and fatigue, but this disease can also cause broken bones, chest pain, dryness, and eye problems.
