StemCell Therapy

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) isn't the same as grandma's stiff joints (aka osteoarthritis). It's an autoimmune disease that causes a persons immune system to attack their joints by mistake, causing pain and swellingand it most often shows up between the ages of 30 and 50, per the American College of Rheumatology.

RA isnt super common among all cases of arthritisabout 1.3 million people are affected by it, according to the American College of Rheumatology. But for those who do have it, it can be debilitating. Heres what you need to know.

We dont really know the cause, even to date, Orrin Troum, M.D., a rheumatologist at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, tells SELF. What we do know is that it's an autoimmune disease and that there is evidence that it runs in families. According to Dr. Troum, there are some factors that have been linked to RA, including smoking cigarettes, poor dental hygiene, and genetics.

Your genes dont actually cause you to develop rheumatoid arthritis, but they can make you more susceptible to environmental factors, like bacterial or viral infections, that could potentially trigger the disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. In other words, having a genetic predisposition doesn't mean that you'll get RA; rather, it means you inherited genetic variations from your parents that could make it harder for your body to fend off infection (which can then contribute to the development of a disease).

People tend to associate the word arthritis with osteoarthritis, which causes joint inflammation that typically comes from the wear and tear of age. But rheumatoid arthritis is an immune condition that impacts the lining of a person's joints. In some patients, RA can impact the skin (via noduleslumps that form beneath the skinand rashes), cause inflammation in the lungs and whites of the eyes, lead to plaque buildup in the heart and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and damage the blood vessels, according to the Arthritis Foundation.

Rheumatoid arthritis starts in a persons joints, but it can be felt all over. Symptoms typically include joint pain, tenderness, swelling, or stiffness (especially in the morning), according to the Arthritis Foundation. People can also experience fatigue, loss of appetite, and a low-grade fever, the organization says.

While you have pain in your joints, your whole body [feels] sick, Marcy OKoon, senior director of consumer health at the Arthritis Foundation, tells SELF. People just feel ill. They have fatigue because they dont sleep well due to the pain. The first symptoms tend to happen in the joints of the hands and feet and then spread to other areas of the body, Reddog Sina, D.O., assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at Michigan State University, tells SELF.

Depending on how severe their condition is, people with RA can feel fine one day and terrible the next. These flare-ups can be unpredictable and debilitating, the Arthritis Foundation says. Some flare-ups have known triggers, like overexerting yourself and having swollen joints the next day, but others have no known cause.

About 75 percent of patients in the U.S. with RA are women, according to the American College of Rheumatology, and 1 to 3 percent of women may get RA in their lifetime. This is true for several other autoimmune conditions like lupus and thyroid disease, Dr. Troum says, and experts arent sure why it happens. Women with RA tend to feel better during pregnancy, only to have a flare-up afterward, O'Koon says. It may have something to do with hormonal differences, but we just dont know, Dr. Troum says.

Since rheumatoid arthritis can get worse with time, early diagnosis is key, Dr. Troum says. But diagnosis can be difficult. Often, patients arent recognized as having rheumatoid arthritis at first and are treated with over-the-counter medications, he says. It's not uncommon for RA patients to originally be misdiagnosed with osteoarthritis, Dr. Troum says.

Once a person receives a diagnosis, verified through a blood test and sometimes an X-ray, theyre often put on disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDS) which can stop the progression of the disease and prevent disability, Dr. Troum says. Typically patients stay on the drugs for life, but they dont have a positive effect on everyone. Its very individually dependent. Some people function incredibly well with medication their entire lives, and others dont, Dr. Sina says. Getting good sleep, eating a healthy diet, and trying to decrease stress may also help people manage their RA, Dr. Troum says.

If youre diagnosed with RA, know this: You can still have a good, active life with proper care. Most of my patients lead normal, healthy, productive lives, Dr. Troum says.

Related:

You May Also Like: I Have a Pre-Existing Condition: Real People Share Their Health Conditions

Follow this link:
6 Things You Need to Know About Rheumatoid Arthritis - SELF

This entry was posted on August 8, 2017 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |