Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints. For some people, the condition can damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels. An autoimmune disorder, RA occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body’s tissues.
Signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may include tender, warm, swollen joints, joint stiffness that is usually worse in the mornings and after inactivity, fatigue, fever, and loss of appetite. Pain and inflammation can occur in the fingers, hands, wrists, knees, ankles, feet, and toes. Uncontrolled inflammation can damage cartilage, which acts as a “shock absorber” in the joints, leading to joint deformity and bone erosion over time.
Arthritis is the swelling and tenderness of one or more joints, with joint pain and stiffness typically worsening with age. The most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. While osteoarthritis is due to mechanical wear and tear on joints, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease.
With RA, symptoms can vary in severity and may come and go. Flares, or the worsening of symptoms, can alternate with periods of remission, where symptoms become less noticeable. In addition to joint symptoms, RA can cause pain or aching in more than one joint, stiffness, tenderness, and swelling in more than one joint.
The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis increases with age and is higher in women. It has a worldwide distribution, with an estimated 1 to 2% prevalence and an annual incidence of about 70 per 100,000 in the United States. The symptoms of RA can significantly affect patients’ capacity to perform daily activities and occupational tasks.
RA can also cause dryness, pain, inflammation, redness, and sensitivity to light in the eyes, leading to difficulty seeing. The mouth may experience dryness and gum irritation or infection, while the skin can develop rheumatoid nodules. The lungs may become inflamed and scarred, which can result in shortness of breath and lung disease.
For more detailed information, you can visit the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic on Arthritis, CDC on RA, Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, UpToDate, and the Arthritis Foundation.
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