Rheumatoid Arthritis- A Pocket Guide Rheumatoid Arthritis also called as rheumatoid disease, it is a chronic disorder that disables the immune system of the body. Usually, this disease occurs in joints, but sometimes it may affect other organs of the body too. Patients suffering from this disease generally complain about having stiff joints, dizziness and fatigue. This disease is also called as systemic illness. Systemic Illness means that it can affect multiple organs of the body. Persons suffering from this disease are more prone to heart attack as compared to others. Symptoms It is a long term disease. The symptoms may come and go and each patient is affected in a different manner. While some patients may suffer from long period of remission, others may have constant inflammation for the long periods. A patient with sudden onset of this disease may go to the bed healthy and wake up next morning with a pain. The signs and symptoms develop gradually over a period of weeks or months. Initially, the patient may experience stiffness in one particular joint, often accompanied by pain. The symptoms are usually felt in the small joints, like in fingers and toes. How many joints are affected may vary. However, in most of the cases it affects at least five joints at one particular time. Usually lupus, gout, and arthritis falls under the category of additive polyarthritis- that means in these disorders more than one joint gets affected as time passes.
The affected joints are:
Elbows Knees Joints Wrists Ankles Shoulders Joints in Toes Joints of the hands or finger
Here we have mentioned rheumatoid arthritis symptoms: Morning Stiffness- It is a symptom that every patient experience, who is suffering from arthritis. Experts say that duration of inflammation is a symptom of degenerative arthritis. Joint Pain and Swelling-the lining of the affected joint sometimes become inflamed and the skin over the joint becomes warm, swollen and red. The area thus becomes painful to touch. Anaemia- Approx 80% of the patients, who suffer from arthritis are anaemic- with lower number of blood cells, which means the blood is not able to carry enough amount of oxygen. Loss of weight- many people suffering from this disease may experience the problem of loss of appetite. The patients may suffer from flu like symptoms like:
Malaise Depression Fever Fatigue
The symptoms of arthritis tend to be sporadic in nature. They may come and go at frequent time interval. Sometimes the patient may experience flare up symptoms, which are more severe and intensive.
Though flare-ups can occur at any time period, but they tend to be more painful during morning, when patient wakes up. And as the day progresses the symptoms slow down. This disease may cause inflammation in other body parts too like:
Lungs Membrane around the lungs Tear Glands Salivary Glands Cricoarytenoid joint- it is a joint in larynx. When it gets inflamed the voice becomes hoarse Nodular Lesions- Lumps under the skin Inflammation of eyes Rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis In the early stages, this kind of arthritis is difficult to diagnose. The signs and symptoms- especially inflammation and stiffness are not so severe. A general physician will carry out physical examination and the doctor will check swelling or pain in the joints.
The doctor may order for following tests for rheumatoid arthritis treatment like: Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate- It is a blood test that monitors the inflammation of the body and rate at which red blood cells sets as sediment in the bottom of the test tube. High sediment means the patient is suffering from more inflammation. C-reactive protein- It is a test that is closely linked with inflammation of the body Anaemia- a significant proportion suffering from arthritis may also have the disease of anaemia Rheumatoid Factor- This blood test determines the presence of rheumatoid factor in patient’s blood. During the early stage it is difficult to detect this factor. Other tests include Imaging Scan and X ray. X ray of a patient helps the doctor to determine what kind of arthritis is present. Some X Rays keeps track of progression of this disease. MRI Scans determine what kind of damage has been done to joints.