Arthritis is an autoimmune ailment that causes an aching inflammation of your joints. RA will effect your whole body, most commonly affecting extra-articular tissues throughout your body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and muscles. RA may also result in inflammation of the fibres around your joints, as well as causing symptoms to other organs in your body. RA is two to three times more likely to occur in women than in men, and commonly strikes between the ages of 20 and 50. But rheumatoid arthritis can also strike in young children and adults older than age 50.
About 60% of arthritis patients are unable to work 10 years after the beginning of their debility. arthritis is a common crippling disease, affecting more than two million people in the USA. Rheumatoid arthritis is three times more likely to become a problem in women as in men. It afflicts people of all races equally. Rheumatoid arthritis can cripple any joint, but the most common joints are in the hands and/or feet. Rheumatoid arthritis results in redness, pain, swelling or a hot (or warm) sensation in the innermost part of a joint, the position where 2 or more bones actually touch. Of the world's population, about 1% of people are believed to have the disease, but the rate varies among different groups of people.
The disease is different from osteoarthritis, the common form of arthritis that commonly comes with older age. The disease can affect body parts as well as joints, such as your mouth, lungs and eyes. The disease is an autoimmune disease, which means the disease results from the immune system threatening the body's own fibres. The disease most often affects the lesser joints, such as those of the hands and/or feet, wrists, elbows, knees, and/or ankles.
The disease may start gradually or with a acute, severe assault with flu-like symptoms. It's imperrative to remember that RA's symptoms are different from person to person. In some people the disease will be mild with periods of activity, or joint inflammation with inactivity. Along with painful, inflamed joints, the disease can cause inflammation in other organs and body tissues. In 20% of cases, lumps called rheumatoid nodules appear under the skin, commonly over bony areas.
Relief for the disease has improved in recent years. Corticosteroids which are medications, such as prednisone and methylprednisolone (Medrol), decrease swelling and pain, and slow joint damage. Drugs used to control the disease fall into two categories: those that are used to make living with the symptoms easier, and drugs that have the possibility to change the course of the debility. Exercise is also an important part of any treatment program. Immunosuppressants medications act to tame your immune system, which is out of control in the disease. A few of the popular immunosuppressants include azathioprine (Imuran), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) and leflunomide (Arava).
These medications could have potentially serious side effects such as increased susceptibility to infection. Rituximab-Rituximab decreases the amount of B cells in the body, and B cells are part of the cause of inflammation.
Anti depressants are commonly used as well. The most common of these that are used for RA pain and sleeping problems are trazodone (Desyrel), amitriptyline, and nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor).
RA Alleviating Tips
You can try non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), celecoxib (Celebrex), ibuprofen (Motrin and others), and a ton of others. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a kind of medication that reduces pain and swelling.
A variety of anti-cytokine drugs are now being used to treat agonizing disease states such as Arthritis.
Joint replacement surgery may be required for severely affected joints, such as knee replacement.
Manmade drugs such as Cortisteroids can be taken. These are drugs that closely resemble cortisone which is a natural hormone produced by the body.
Some light exercise can be great for improving the blood circulation to the joints.
