« Celebrities Make Tooth Whitening Famous | Home | Arthritis Aids & Assistive Products »
Rheumatoid Arthritis : Symptoms
By Ray Lam | July 19, 2008
Rheumatoid arthritis afflicts millions of people and can significantly reduce one’s quality of life. The early symptoms for rheumatoid arthritis include pain, redness and swelling in the small joints (typically the hands and/or feet) on both sides of the body.
Be that as it may, one thing is for sure, and that is that, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease where the body’s own immune system attacks itself. Though medical knowledge till now is rather limited about the abnormal immune system response, it has at least been established that cells of the immune system travel freely all over the body through the bloodstream resulting a non-localized disease condition. The manifestation thus starts with one joint first, then spreading to other joints. Instances of sudden inflammation and pain in different joints simultaneously are not uncommon though.
As another significant characteristic of autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis tend to be associated with systemic symptoms, i.e. symptoms appearing throughout the body or the system. These include mild fever, loss of appetite, fatigue and malaise. Medically speaking, these are manifestations of cell discontent when they are (wrongly?) activated.
If early warning signs can be identified before the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis appear, then doctors may be able to prevent the disease from progressing to the point where joint deformity occurs. But, much research is still necessary before this can happen. Currently doctors are only able to make a confirmed diagnosis after the early symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis appear.
Although it is understood what causes rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, it is unclear what causes the disease itself. It is believed that the auto-immune system, which normally attacks and destroys harmful bacteria and viruses in the body, goes “haywire,” and attacks healthy cells of the body, causing inflammation or swelling and stiffness in the joints as well as other parts of the body.
Some less common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include: inflammation of the lining around the heart and lungs, inflammation of the tear and salivary glands, and in rare cases, general inflammation of the lungs and blood vessels. While the early symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are confined to the joints, other systems of the body can also be affected, particularly if it is not treated.
Since rheumatoid arthritis is caused by the whole-body immune reaction to a problem that is localized, it can affect any joint/joints irrespective of the fact that they are weight-bearing or not. Also, it usually affects the smaller joints like the hands, balls of the feet, wrists or elbows. But there are quite a few exceptions to this.
Rheumatoid arthritis usually affects the same type of joints on both sides of the body as is it is caused by the chemicals that are flowing through the bloodstream. People suffering from rheumatoid arthritis symptoms may feel stiffness all through the day on account of the swelling of the joints.
Topics: Health&Fitness |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
