Rheumatoid
Arthritis (RA)
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease that affects the lining of the synovial joints — the most movable type of joints found in the human body. What happens as a result, is a painful swelling eventually leading to bone erosion and joint deformity.<sup>1,2</sup> Since RA affects the important joints in our body, it affects movement and there is a progressive disability.
Joints commonly affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a serious condition because it also affects the quality of life. Someone with advanced rheumatoid arthritis may have difficulties with simple tasks such as washing themselves, eating with a knife and fork, or buttoning up a shirt.
Other symptoms such as pain and fatigue can be very troublesome too. This disease can also affect other parts of the body, like the blood vessels or certain organs. Rheumatoid arthritis, usually, gradually worsens over the course of many years.<sup>3</sup>
People at risk of a worse outcome are those with a particular genotype, age younger than 30 years, multiple joint involvements, female gender, and extra-articular involvement (involvement of other organs).<sup>4</sup>
References –
- Guo Q, et al. Rheumatoid arthritis: pathological mechanisms and modern pharmacologic therapies. Bone Res. 2018;6:15.
- Rheumatoid arthritis. Available from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353648. Accessed on 26 November 2019.
- InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. Rheumatoid arthritis: Overview. 2013 Oct 23 [Updated 2016 Aug 11]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK384455/.
- Chauhan K, Jandu JS, Goyal A, et al. Rheumatoid Arthritis. [Updated 2020 Feb 26]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441999/.
