What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack its own healthy tissues. It causes painful inflammation and swelling between the joints making it extremely uncomfortable.
When a person is affected by rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system of the body starts affecting the padding between the bones, thereby making it painful and difficult to continue physical activities.
In its early stages, rheumatoid arthritis attacks smaller joints of the hands and feet but with the progression of the disease, it starts attacking larger joints like knees, ankles, hips, elbows, and shoulders. Though rheumatoid arthritis is primarily a disease of the joints, it may also affect the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, blood, or nerves.
Rheumatoid arthritis can begin at any age but mostly affects people between the ages of 30 and 50. However, women are more susceptible to developing this condition. Here’s everything you need to know about the symptoms, causes, and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
What are the Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
- Morning Stiffness
- Joint Stiffness
- Joint Pain
- Fatigue
- Minor Joint Swelling
- Numbness & Tingling
- Fever
- Decrease in range of motion
What are the Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. It is believed to be due to a composition of genetic, environmental, and hormonal factors. However, the disease sometimes develops due to an infection with a virus or bacteria that may trigger it. Also, there are a variety of factors that could affect the rate of arthritis and the most major ones are-
- Smoking
- Alcohol consumption
- Obesity
- Vitamin deficiency
- STDs
- Injuries.
How is Rheumatoid Arthritis treated?
The treatment for rheumatoid arthritis works the best when diagnosed in its early stages. The initial treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis involves a class of medications called anti-rheumatic drugs DMRDs. The symptoms of Arthritis can be managed by following a routine of painkillers, corticosteroids, non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAD), Counter irritants, Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARD), and biological response modifiers. Physiotherapy often helps improve movement in joints and to maintain flexibility in your joints.
However, there are surgical options like joint repair, tendon repair, total joint replacement, total knee replacement (TKR), and joint fusion that the patient could opt for when joint damage couldn’t be slowed or prevented by medications.
Opting for surgical procedures in such patients can not only reduce pain but also restore the functionality of the joints.
Department of Orthopaedics in GNRC Dispur | Department of Orthopaedics in GNRC Sixmile
