Rheumatoid arthritis is a crippling disease that affects young and old alike. Although there is no cure for this autoimmune disorder, there are a variety of treatment options, ranging from medication, to natural remedies, to lifestyle changes. Read on to learn more about rheumatoid arthritis, including symptoms, treatment options, and more.

Everyone knows that stiffness of joints is so painful, and that an individual finds it difficult to make easy and comfortable movements. Both men and women can suffer from arthritis, which is a chronic disease. It is often believed that women with arthritis have an even more difficult time, especially when they are pregnant. There are many concerns that women have during pregnancy such as worrying about the baby, health of the baby, their own health etc, and rheumatoid arthritis just adds another thing to worry.

Fortunately, and perhaps surprisingly, this is not the case with every pregnant woman. Many women actually feel relieved of many symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and see improvement in the disease during their pregnancy. But the condition can become worse soon after the baby is born. The only thing that women can do is to ensure that they get proper medication to keep the baby healthy. They must report every symptom to the doctor and ask about the side effects of medicines. It is necessary to know about the side effects, because there are some medicines that can cause birth defects in babies.

It is important to have a strong immune and support system during rheumatoid arthritis, so that women can take care of the child. As mentioned earlier, many women are not troubled with RA during pregnancies, and soon after the birth they face severe problems. It is not the case with every woman, as some women get worse during pregnancy. That's why women must be concerned about medications, when they plan to breastfeed. It is the time to talk to the doctor and get a suggestion.

It has been revealed in a research, that rheumatoid arthritis affects 1-2% of women during pregnancy. Some studies have also shown that the disease has a relation with maternal morbidity during pregnancy. In fact, pregnant and non pregnant women have similar morbidity rates. Hence it can be concluded that RA and pregnancy are not related to each other in any serious or fatal outcome. There are some rare cases of premature birth and reduced growth of babies caused due to arthritis. While talking about fatal outcome no such case with serious outcome has been reported.

Therefore, it can be said that a pregnant woman cannot have long-term illness. But when it comes to pregnancy and RA, there can be temporary changes in the health of a mother. Some women might not even show the slightest symptoms of RA during pregnancy.