Rheumatoid Arthritis – What It Is, Symptoms and Treatment

Here’s What You Need to Know About Rheumatoid Arthritis

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis is a common disease affecting many people. Let’s look at what causes it, who is at risk, its symptoms, and of course, treatment.

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease that affects the synovial lining of joints. They swell and become inflamed, causing pain in the smaller joints of the feet and hands.

Eventually, the cartilage wears away and you end up with bony erosion of the joints and severe joint deformity.

(Osteo-arthritis is more common – it happens as a result of wear and tear on the joints).

Rheumatoid arthritis happens when the immune system attacks the tissues within your joints. Some people with rheumatoid arthritis develop symptoms in other areas such as the eyes, blood vessels, skin, and lungs.

What Causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?

The causes of rheumatoid arthritis are unclear.

There may be both environmental and genetic factors playing into who gets rheumatoid arthritis and who doesn’t. It’s possible that genetics interact with environmental things like infections to result in the disease.

Who is Most at Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis?

There are certain factors in your life that may make it more likely that you’ll get the disease. These include the following:

  • Family history. If a parent, brother or sister has rheumatoid arthritis, this may put you at an increased risk of getting the disease.
  • If you are female, you have a greater chance of getting the disease (because auto-immune disorders are more common in women than in men.)
  • While it can occur in a person of any age and has been known to affect children, most people are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis between 40 and 60 years of age.

Signs And Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, these are some things you can expect:

  • Joint stiffness that is usually worse in the morning but can last for several hours throughout the day
  • Joints that are tender to the touch, warm, sometimes reddened, and swollen. As mentioned, this usually involves the smaller joints of the body.
  • Lumps of tissue beneath the skin near the joints. These are called rheumatoid nodules and may or may not be painful to the touch.
  • Weight loss, fever, and fatigue. These are the natural effects of auto-antibodies in the body tissues.
  • Swollen PIP joints. These joints connect the hands to the fingers. Eventually the joints of the feet are affected as well. Wrists, ankles, elbows, shoulders, and hips will eventually become affected by this disease. The disease is usually bilateral, meaning that they affect both sides of the body at the same time.

You may have steady symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis or may have symptoms that come and go. Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by flares of increased joint inflammation with periods of time where the joints are less affected.

The longer you have rheumatoid arthritis, the more likely it is that you will have joint deformities that do not go away.

Complications Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis isn’t just a disease of the joints. There are several complications of the disease that you should be aware of. These include the following:

  • Lung disease. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, you stand a greater chance of also having scarring and inflammation of your lungs, which can cause you to feel short of breath.
  • You can get thinning of your bones just because you have rheumatoid arthritis. Alternatively, some of the medications used to treat the disease can cause weakened bones.
  • Heart problems. People with rheumatoid arthritis have a greater chance of having blocked arteries in the heart and an increased chance of pericardial sac inflammation.
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome. If you have rheumatoid arthritis in the wrist area, it can compress the carpal tunnel, which houses the median nerve. This can result in tingling and numbness of your hands and fingers.

Tests For Rheumatoid Arthritis

 rheumatoid arthritisIn the early stages of the disease, rheumatoid arthritis can mimic other joint diseases, making it difficult to diagnose the disease. Your doctor will look for swelling of specific joints in the hands and the presence of rheumatoid nodules.

There is a blood test for rheumatoid arthritis that can clinch the diagnosis. It is called the “rheumatoid factor,” which is a test that detects the auto-antibodies that are acting on your joints. Other tests for inflammation can help aid in the diagnosis of the disease.

X-rays will show deformed joints, and there will be a lack of joint space as the disease progresses.

Natural Treatments For Rheumatoid Arthritis

Because there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, the treatment is directed at controlling your symptoms and helping you feel better.

Many people prefer to try natural treatments before medication – particularly as many of the drug treatments have side-effects.

Of course, you’ll want to discuss treatment with your medical practitioner before you start.

rheumatoid arthritis remedy gingerGinger is known to be effective in relieving the pain associated with arthritis. You can take ginger in ginger tea (add 1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger to boiling water, leave to infuse for 5 minutes, strain if you wish then drink).

You can also add ginger essential oil to a carrier oil (e.g. olive oil or jojoba oil) and apply directly to the sore joints.

I add chopped fresh ginger root to a daily juice or smoothie and I find it helps tremendously – if I skip a day, my hands let me know immediately, they get sore. Or of course you can simply add ginger to the foods you cook (add it to salads, stir fries and curries). You can also take ginger in supplement form.

Omega-3 fatty acids (found in cold water fish such as salmon and tuna, or via supplements) have been shown to reduce pain and inflammation.

turmeric for rheumatoid arthritis
Turmeric

Green tea extract (EGCG), turmeric (curcumin), quercetin, white willow bark and boswellia are also used as anti-inflammatory botanicals.

And of course, a healthy diet with lots of fresh vegetables, always helps.

Medication For Rheumatoid Arthritis

 

There are several types of drugs used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Some are relatively easy to tolerate, while others have serious side effects that you should be aware of. Doctors usually start with the medications that are easiest to tolerate first. Here are some treatments for rheumatoid arthritis.

  • Steroid medications, such as prednisone or prednisolone, are helpful in that they reduce the pain and inflammation of the joints and can reduce the rate of joint damage. Unfortunately, they have side effects, such as osteoporosis, diabetes, and weight gain. Steroids can be useful when you have flares of the disease, but they are not meant to be taken long term or chronically.
  • NSAID medication. These include medications like ibuprofen and naproxen. Side effects include liver damage, kidney damage, irritation of the stomach, heart problems, and tinnitus.
  • Anti-Rheumatic drugs. These medications are said to actually lessen the damage done by the autoantibodies so that the joints aren’t permanently damaged. Medications in this class include Plaquenil, Azulfidine, methotrexate, and leflunomide. Because they can affect your immune system, they can cause side effects including suppression of your bone marrow, lung infections, and liver problems.
  • Biologic medications. These represent a new class of medications that are said to act on the immune system so that there is less inflammation and less joint damage. They can cause an increase in infections because they affect the immune system. Choices of biologic medications include adalimumab, abatacept, certolizumab, rituximab, and infliximab.
  • Physical therapy. You may wish to see a physical therapist who can help you learn various exercises that will keep your joints more flexible. They may also help you learn how to do things around the house that don’t involve using your hands. Assistive devices may be prescribed for you that will help you do things without stressing the joints too much.
  • Surgery can be done that can repair the damage to your joints. This includes things like joint replacement in which the damaged joints are removed and a prosthetic joint is put in its place. Tendons can also be repaired. In the worst case scenario, the surgeon can fuse the joints together so they don’t rub against one another.

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Arthritis, Arthritis pain, eco friendly, green, medication and side effects for Rheumatoid Arthritis, natural treatment for Arthritis, natural treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis, pain, Rheumatoid Arthritis


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