What Are The Common Symptoms For Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis refers to the condition of the joints wherein the synovial (joint) lining of multiple joints gets inflamed. To understand the disease better you must be able to recognize the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The disease initially affects smaller joints and then moves on to expand its pangs over the larger ones. Hands, wrists, ankles, and feet are the first areas that may exhibit the signs of presence of rheumatoid arthritis.
It is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the tissues around the joints. It happens when the immune system by mistake attacks the own tissues. This further leads to inflammation of the affected tissues. It is also called a systemic illness as it can affect possibly any organ of the body. It has the potential to cause complete joint destruction and even functional disability.
Rheumatoid arthritis is caused due to the presence of various infectious agents like viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Although the exact causes are not known it is sometimes believed that the external elements present in the environment may often trigger the immune system to attack the body's own tissues.
Some of the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle and joint aches, low grade fever, and stiffness. However, the symptoms may not be ever present and vary from being mild to severe, as per the condition of the patient. There may be occasional flares that would get controlled after some treatment. The joints become tender, swollen, red and painful. Also, in rheumatoid arthritis, the body joints become symmetrically affected. The muscles become weak and affected resulting in deformity, destruction and loss of function. If it happens to affect the lungs, the patient might experience extreme chest pain while lying down. The degree of damage done by rheumatoid arthritis varies from person to person. Similarly, the treatment options also depend on the severity of the problem. Basically, two types of medications are used to treat the problem- slow acting medicines or DMARDs such as methotrexate and some fast acting medicines like aspirin and cortisone. If the problem is not very serious, it can be managed with the help of anti-inflammatory drugs and some rest but if the condition is serious, you may need to go for second line of medications that are stronger coupled with surgery. Also, most recently, biomedical therapies such as etanercept, adalimumab, infliximab and anakinra have also been of tremendous help. But, it is always better to not let the disease reach an advanced stage. For that you must identify the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis as early as possible and get the required treatment in time.
Privacy Policy Contact Us
|