Did you know that Up to 14 million people around the world have rheumatoid arthritis (World Health Organization, 2021)? This is enough reason to understand what rheumatoid arthritis is, and how to prevent it. In this guide, we’ll be sharing all the things you need to know about rheumatoid arthritis. Read through to find out.
What is rheumatoid arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis or RA in short is an autoimmune disorder. It causes pains, swelling, and stiffness in joints. Also, rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease, which meait can affect the whole body. It happewhen a person’s immune system mistakes the body’s healthy tissues for foreign invaders.
Sadly, it affects anyone of any age. And can get worse fast, so early diagnosis and thorough treatment are vital. The sooner you can begin treatment, the more effective it’s likely to be.
Rheumatoid arthritis starts in the joints; for example, the knee is the largest joint in the body and one of the most complicated. To understand rheumatoid arthritis more, let’s know how it affects the joints.
How does rheumatoid arthritis affect the joint?
When you have rheumatoid arthritis, your immune system causes swelling inside a joint or a number of joints. Swelling is usually an important part of how your immune system reacts. It allows the body to send additional fluid and blood to a part of the body under attack from an infection. For example, if you have a cut that gets infected, the skin around it can become swollen and have a different color.
Nevertheless, in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, this swelling in the joint is needless and causes problems.
When the swelling goes down, the capsule around the synovium remaistretched and can’t hold the joint in its proper position. This can cause the joint to become rickety and move into uncommon positions.
Sigand symptoms
Usually, rheumatoid arthritis occurs in the wrists, hands, or feet. It comes with a lot of symptoms, ranging from:
- pain or achiness in more than one joint
- stiffness in more than one joint that lasts longer than 30 minutes
- swelling in more than one joint
- symmetrical joint involvement
- a general feeling of being unwell
- low-grade fever
- appetite loss
- weight loss
- weakness
- joint deformity
- loss of function and mobility
- unsteadiness when walking
In most cases, Early rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect your smaller joints first — particularly the joints that attach your fingers to your hands and your toes to your feet.
Also, it is important to note that rheumatoid arthritis sigand symptoms may differ in intensity and may even come and go. Periods of amplified disease activity, called flares, alternate with periods of relative decrease — when the swelling and pain fade or disappear. Over time, rheumatoid arthritis can distort joints and shift out of their normal place.
Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
After looking at the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, it is good we also consider what can cause rheumatoid arthritis, that way; we can avoid them if they are avoidable. The following can play a part in why someone has rheumatoid arthritis:
Age
Rheumatoid arthritis affects adults of any age, though most people are diagnosed between the ages of 40 and 60. Around a fraction of people with rheumatoid arthritis are of working age when they are first diagnosed.
Sex
Women are more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis.
Genetics
Rheumatoid arthritis sometimes grows because of a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as smoking and diet. It is uncertain what the genetic connection is, but it is believed that having a relative with the condition escalates your chances of developing the condition.
Weight
Also, If you are overweight, you have a greater chance of developing rheumatoid arthritis than if you are a healthy weight. The body mass index (BMI) is a measure that calculates if your weight is healthy, using your height and weight.
For most adults, an ideal BMI is in the 18.5 to 24.9 range.
Below are ranges of BMI to help you keep check of your weight. If your BMI is:
- below 18.5 – you’re in the underweight range
- between 18.5 and 24.9 – you’re in the healthy weight range
- between 25 and 29.9 – you’re in the overweight range
- between 30 and 39.9 – you’re in the obese range.
Smoking
Smoking Cigarettes considerably increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
Diet
Some evidence has shown that if you eat a lot of red meat and don’t consume much vitamin C, you may have a more significant risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
Complicatioin Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Having rheumatoid arthritis comes with a lot of other health complications. These complicatioare;
- Osteoporosis. Having rheumatoid arthritis can increase your risk of osteoporosis — a health disorder that weakeyour bones and makes them more prone to fracture.
- Rheumatoid nodules. These firm bumps of tissue most commonly form around pressure points, such as the elbows. However, these nodules can form anywhere in the body, including the heart and lungs.
- Dry eyes and mouth. People who have rheumatoid arthritis are much more likely to develop Sjogren’s syndrome, a disorder that decreases the amount of moisture in the eyes and mouth.
- Infections. Rheumatoid arthritis itself and many of the medicatioused to combat it can impair the immune system, leading to increased infections.
- Abnormal body composition. The proportion of fat to lean mass is often higher in people who have rheumatoid arthritis, even in those who have an average body mass index (BMI).
- Carpal tunnel syndrome. If rheumatoid arthritis affects your wrists, the inflammation can compress the nerve that serves most of your hand and fingers.
- Heart problems. Rheumatoid arthritis can increase your risk of hardened and blocked arteries, as well as inflammation of the sac that encloses your heart.
- Lung disease. People with rheumatoid arthritis have a bigger risk of swelling and scarring of the lung tissues, which may lead to shortness of breath.
- Lymphoma. Rheumatoid arthritis increases the risk of lymphoma, a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymph system.
Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis
If a person has a diagnosis of RA, the physician may refer them to a specialist known as a rheumatologist, who will advise on treatment options.
Treatment will aim to:
- prevent flares and reduce their severity if they occur
- reduce inflammation in the joints
- relieve pain
- minimize any loss of function caused by pain, joint damage, or deformity
- slow down or prevent damage to the joints and organs
Optioinclude medications, physical therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, and surgery.
Drugs
There are four main groups of drugs that are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. These are:
- painkillers
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
- Steroids (also identified as corticosteroids).
Many people with rheumatoid arthritis need to take more than one drug. This is because different drugs work in different ways.
Your drug treatments may change from time to time. Although this depends on how bad your symptoms are, or because something relating to your condition has changed.
Drugs may be available under several different names. Each drug has an approved name – sometimes called a generic name. To get specific names of drugs, it’s best you consult your doctor.
Managing symptoms
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Managing a flare-up
When your symptoms get worse, this is known as a flare-up. These can happen at any time but can happen after you have been stressed or had an infection.
Over time, you may get better at noticing the early sigof a flare-up.
If you’re having regular flare-ups, you should mention this to your doctor. It may be that you need to review your treatment.
Here are a few things you can do to help yourself during a flare-up:
- Keep taking your medication at the doses you’ve been prescribed.
- Do gentle exercises.
- Put heated items on the joint – these can include a hot water bottle or electric heat pad. See below for more information.
- Put cold items on the joint – these can include a bowl of cold water with ice cubes, a pack of frozen peas wrapped in a towel, or a damp towel kept in the fridge. Let people around you know so that they can help and support you.
Tips for using heated items
Heated items that could help your joint pain include a hot water bottle or electric heat pad. Wrap these in a towel, then place them on a painful joint. You could also try having a hot or warm shower or bath.
Other heated items that people have found useful are a wheat bag, heat pads, deep heat cream, or a heat lamp. Always make sure these items are warm but not hot, as you could risk burning or scalding yourself. Gentle heat will be enough. A towel should be placed between the heated item and the skin for protection. Check your skin regularly, to make sure it is not burning.
RA may be a lifelong condition, but you can still live a healthy, active life after diagnosis. The right medicatiomay even be able to control your symptoms entirely.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, there is no cure for RA. However, early diagnosis and treatment can help keep RA from progressing. If you have joint pain and swelling that doesn’t improve, it’s important to tell your doctor.