Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment Options

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease primarily affecting the joints. It’s characterized by tender, warm, swollen joints, with stiffness often worse in the mornings or after inactivity. Fatigue, fever, and loss of appetite are also common symptoms. RA usually impacts smaller joints initially, such as those in the fingers and toes, before progressing to larger joints.

Comorbid conditions often associated with RA include cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and lung diseases. The pathophysiology involves immune system cells attacking synovial tissue lining the joints and/or the tenosynovium inside tendon sheaths. Diagnostic evaluation frequently includes the use of rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies.

Key points to remember are that RA causes joint damage mediated by cytokines, chemokines, and metalloproteases. The disease often affects the same joints on both sides of the body, such as the hands, wrists, feet, ankles, knees, shoulders, and elbows. Symptoms may start suddenly or develop slowly over time.

Age, sex, and genetics are significant risk factors for RA. It can start at any age, with the highest onset in adults in their sixties. Women are more likely to develop RA than men, and specific genes can increase the likelihood of developing the disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic inflammatory disorder, affecting not only joints but also other organs including the skin, heart, blood vessels, and lungs. The main symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, stiffness, and swelling, leading to decreased mobility and function.

For more detailed information, visit the following resources:

Mayo Clinic
NCBI Bookshelf
Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Disorders – MSD Manuals
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Arthritis | CDC
OrthoInfo – AAOS
Osmosis