Learn about rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects your joints and other body systems. Find out how your immune system attacks your own tissues, what causes symptoms and complications, and how to prevent it.
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.
The immunopathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) spans decades, beginning with the production of autoantibodies against post-translationally modified proteins (checkpoint 1). After years of asymptomatic autoimmunity and progressive immune system remodeling, tissue tolerance erodes, and joint inflammation ensues as tissue…
In rheumatoid arthritis, your immune system attacks the lining of your joints. Rheumatoid arthritis vs. gout: Rheumatoid arthritis and gout are both painful types of arthritis. Gout symptoms include intense pain, redness, stiffness, swelling, and warmth in your big toe or other joints. In gout, uric acid crystals cause inflammation.
What causes rheumatoid arthritis? The exact cause of RA is not known. RA is an autoimmune disorder. This means the body’s immune system attacks its own healthy cells and tissues. This causes inflammation in and around the joints. This may damage the skeletal system. RA can also damage other organs, such as the heart and lungs.
Learn how your immune system defends your body from foreign invasion by viruses, bacteria, and other organisms. Find out how your immune system is organized, what are its main functions, and how it responds to infections and diseases.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system begins attacking the lining of its joints, causing pain, inflammation, and eventually damage to cartilage and bone. Rheumatoid arthritis can also harm the body’s internal organs, such as the heart, lungs, and nervous system. The good news is that early and…
Mayo Clinic
CDC
Nature Immunology
PMC – National Center
Cleveland Clinic
Johns Hopkins Medicine
National Center for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
Yale Medicine
