Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA) is the most common type of autoimmune arthritis. RA is a progressive and debilitating musculoskeletal disorder that affects the joints symmetrically, causing a range of systemic effects. What it causes is still not well known; nevertheless, findings of new research points towards a believe that it is triggered by a defective immune system, which causes the release of inflammatory chemicals. These chemicals cause damage to cartilage and bone, usually affecting the wrists, the joints of the hand, including the knuckles, the middle joints of the fingers and feet. While this condition can affect any joints, besides, important body organs such as the eyes and the lungs can also be affected by the inflammation that occurs as a result of this chronic condition. Only in America 1.3 million of people are affected by this ailment, and 75 % of them are mainly women. Its onset usually occurs between fourth and sixth decades; however, RA can occur at any age("Diseases And

Rheumatoid joint pain can be hard to analyze in its initial stages on the grounds that the early signs and side effects copy those of numerous different sicknesses. There is nobody blood test or physical finding to affirm the conclusion.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. normally the body’s immune system attacks and protects the body against foreign substance, with RA the immune system accidently attacks the joints. When the joints are mistakenly attacked inflammation occurs which causes the tissues to thicken thus resulting in pain and swelling of the joints. When this inflammation is undetected damage to the cartilage can occur, when this happens the spacing between the bones become smaller, the joints may become loose, painful, unstable and may also lose their mobility and deformity of the joints can occur.

If ones doctor suspects RA they may perform blood test to check for protein in the blood (This is present in about 2 in 3 people with RA. However, about 1 in 20 of the normal population has rheumatoid factor), and x-rays of the hands and feet may be done to detect any early deformations of the joints. If an individual’s doctor suspects that they may have RA, they usually will refer the patient to a rheumatologist who specialize in the joints and this type of disease. There is no cure for RA, but proper treatment for RA can make a big difference in reducing symptoms and to improve quality of life. Some of the main aims of treatment are: to decrease the disease from progressing to prevent joint damage, to reduce pain and stiffness in the affected joints, to minimize any disability caused by pain, joint damage, or deformities. A common medication prescribed for RA are disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS) such as methotrexate, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine. This can be with medication such as steroids, NSAIDS, and often times will treat with pain killers because the pain is so intense. Eating a healthy diet and excising is always

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of connective tissue in the diarthrodial (synovial) joints, typically with periods of remission and exacerbation (Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper, Bucher, & Camera, 2011). The etiology of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. Autoimmunity and genetic factors are believed to be important in the development of RA. Genetic predisposition appears to be important in the development of RA (Lewis et al., 2011). The strongest evidence for a familial influence is the increased occurrence of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) (Lewis et al., 2011). Smoking can increase the risk of RA for a person who has a genetic predisposition. Autoimmunity theory suggests that changes

Rheumatoid Arthritis or (RA) is an autoimmune disease that attacks the joints and connective tissue. The result is inflammation that produces permanent damage in the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic syndrome that tends to be progressive and destructive as compared to Osteoarthritis or (OA), which is more of an age related disease caused by “wear and tear” of the joints. In contrast to (OA), rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by inflammation mostly of the joints, but is a general body disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease that affects whole systems of body particularly cardiovascular system, nerves, respiratory system (RACGP, 2009). The causes of rheumatoid arthritis are unknown but it is hereditary which assists to have a risk of rheumatoid arthritis by 50%-60% (RACGP, 2009).

After this is done, they will perform lab work to make sure you may not have any other conditions. When performing the lab work, they will be testing for five things. If C-Reactive Proteins are detected, this indicates the sign of inflammation in the body. Your erythrocyte sedimentation rate will be checked, as with rheumatoid arthritis, this is generally raised. Your Rheumatoid Factor will be checked as well, because “about 75% of people with rheumatoid arthritis are RF positive” (RA 101). Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide will be tested, as “About 98% of people with RA have these antibodies in their systems” (RA 101). And lastly, an antinuclear antibody test would be done to make sure you do not have a

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic syndrome that is characterized by inflammation of the peripheral joints, but it may also involve the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and eyes. The prevalence of this autoimmune disease is between 0.3% to 1.5% of the population in the United States (Feinberg, pp 815). It affects women two to three times more often than men, and the onset of RA is usually between 25 and 50 years of age, but it can occur at any age (Reed, pp 584). RA can be diagnosed by establishing the presence of persistent joint pain, swelling in a symmetric distribution, and prolonged morning stiffness. RA usually affects multiple joints, such as the hands, wrists, knees, elbows, feet, shoulders, hips, and small hand joints. RA is

Arthritis affects more than just the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks various joints, internal organs,

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that affects the cartilage in one 's joints, it is not curable, it can not be stopped, only the pain itself can be lessened. In an average person’s body, the immune system has one job; to attack foreign substances that may enter the body. With the 1.5 million people in the United States that have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, their bodies are “tricked” or mislead into thinking that the cartilage within their joints is what is foreign. Once their immune system attacks the joints, it causes inflammation within, which then in turn leads to the synovium (lining of the joints) tissue to thicken. The synovium makes a fluid that acts as a lubricant to the joints and helps everything move freely. Once that fluid is gone, swelling and pain is experienced next. After awhile, the cartilage within the joints begins to disintegrate and will eventually cripple the individual. Along with knowing exactly what RA is, by the end of this paper you will know signs and symptoms within the oral cavity and systemically, and you’ll be familiar with how nutrition is related to the progression of this disease.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a systemic chronic inflammatory disease of the joints. (Kobayashi, Momohara, Kamatani, & Okamoto, 2008, p. 4456) The term ‘chronic' refers to a disease being long term, and the term ‘inflammatory' means a sudden response to tissue in the body being injured.

An early recognition of the disease will curb and control the disease process at the same time thwart any deformities that will bring about disability to the individual. This can be accomplished through an extensive medical history isolating the areas especially complaints of pain and swelling on the joints. Laboratory work up is also critical to identify the specificities of the arthritis at the same time provided targeted treatment to the classified type of rheumatoid

Since this disease has chronic, systemic, autoimmune, and inflammatory characteristics, the initial diagnosis is rarely rheumatoid arthritis. The common use of the term arthritis “can oversimplify the nature of the varied disease processes and the difficulty in differentiating one from another” (Grossman, 2014, p. 1499). The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is “made clinically based primarily on physical examination findings” (Gibofsky, 2012, p. 295), which can be a cause of misdiagnosis, since many diseases have overlapping presentations.

The diagnosis of RA is often made by measuring the levels of rheumatoid factor (RF), an antibody directed against human IgG, in the serum or plasma of the patient (Keren, 2013). The great majority of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis present with very high titer levels of rheumatoid factor, and often times these levels are high prior to the progression of RA (Keren, 2013). Therefore, rheumatoid factor should be a great predictor of RA cases. However, there are issues with using rheumatoid factor as the diagnostic test for RA; rheumatoid factors are known to fluctuate greatly, levels can rise due to other infectious or acute disease, or levels can drop and show a