Rheumatoid Arthritis Research Paper

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 arthritis is an autoimmune inflammatory disease which causes inflammation on joints leading to disability. The deterioration is caused by constant attack in the synovium leading to synovial cells to a rough and grainy tissue eventually allowing the bones to crumble away. The disease currently has no cure and scientists are thriving to find a target specifically aiming at the bones.

Around 70% of arthritis sufferers in the UK have rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Women are also more likely to develop RA than men, and commonly affects adults between ages 50 and 60. This condition is characterised by an insidious onset of pain, swelling of joints and morning stiffness. Arthritis is caused by inflammation of the synovial tissue of the joints, supposedly triggered by the presence of autobodies such as rheumatoid factors. The first line treatment for RA is a combination of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). These slow down the progression of RA and treatment typically includes methotrexate in combination with another DMARD (e.g. sulphasalazine). Short term glucocorticoids are also used with DMARDS to manage flares of inflammation. Anti-TNF drugs

Today in the United States there is an estimated 1.3 million people living and dealing with rheumatoid arthritis (Arthritis Foundation). One might ask, what exactly is rheumatoid arthritis? Well, rheumatoid arthritis, also commonly known as RA, is a form of inflammatory disease and an autoimmune disease. If the person is a minor, or below the age of six-teen, then the chronic disease can also go by the name of juvenile arthritis. The juvenile arthritis is, “Defined as chronic inflammation of the synovial joints, with unknown etiology, which starts before the age of sixteen and persists for at least six weeks” (Hink et al 1). This disease can affect anyone with a functioning immune system. Out of the 1.3 million people in the United States that have rheumatoid arthritis, 70% of that number is women (RA.com). Once again there are no certain reasons as to who receives this disease whether its children, elders, Caucasians, African Americans, etc. But once they do receive the illness, then it affects them immensely. “The disease is systemic, meaning it can occur throughout the whole body. It’s a chronic disease, so it can’t be cured” (Arthritis Foundation). The pain, stiffness and fatigue can affect the entire body. “RA occurs when your immune system, the system that protects your body from outside harm, mistakenly starts attacking healthy tissue” (RA.com). Rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable disease that is affecting

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.

In addition to the discussion I would like to briefly explain the pathophysiology of RA. The interaction of genetic risk factors, environment and the immune systems are the main pathogens in RA. Regardless of the initial factors, RA progresses, when an amino acid required for protein synthesis is converted from arginine to citrulline (called citrullination), which alters the structure and function of the proteins. The body's immune system does not recognise these citrullinated proteins as self, and so begins to attack the immune system and occurs persistent inflammation of the synovium and bone destruction. Ongoing damage in the joint causes persistent inflammation and generates large amounts of inflammatory cytokines and growth factors. Circulation of high levels of these pro-inflammatory mediators causes the synovial joint inflammation (Casey 2015).

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

Thank you Prianca for taking the time to share about the cytokines and their interaction in the inflammatory process of the Rheumatoid Arthritis. Indeed, the epidemiology incidence of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is increasing every minute. Like you well explain above in your post, we have more than 1.3 million of people in the US affected with RA (Ruderman & Tambar, 2013) and 1 percent of the worldwide population is affected with RA (Lubberts & Berg, 2003). It seems like this epidemic is going to continue. 75 percent of that 1.3 million are women, and statistically, 1 of 3 women may get rheumatoid arthritis in their life. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect anybody at any age, but in most of the cases, the disease begins in the 40’s and 60’s (Ruderman & Tambar, 2013).

The type of treatment chosen depends on the type of arthritis and the effects it has on the patient as well as the severity of the disease. Other factors to consider are the age of the patient and the joints affected. Bearing in mind that different people exhibit different reactions to different medications, treatment in this case is individualized but includes a combination of joint protection methods and medication. For rheumatoid arthritis, the Initial treatment starts with non steroidal ant inflammatory drugs and other simple analgesic but as the inflammation progresses, slow acting anti rheumatoid drugs which are aimed at modifying the disease are introduced. They are added progressively as the inflammation progresses in order to suppress the process that leads to chronic inflammation (Amin 1995).

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.

The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in the U.S is now estimated to be 1.29 million people or 0.6 percent of the population. This figure show a reduction from the previous estimate of 2.1 million people. The prevalence and incidence of new cases per year appear to be decreasing since the 1960s. although there is a decline, rheumatoid arthritis appear in women twice as

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

They were doing their study on 27 RA patients RA patients who take only methotrexate (MTX) and 172 RA patients who take methotrexate (MTX) and leflunomide in their treatment regimens for 4.6 months. This study was designed to measure the “fractional excretion of uric acid (FEUA)” ((Choe and Kim, 2015). The result for this study was “Leflunomide reduced serum uric acid concentrations through increased urinary excretion of uric acid, which might not reflect changes in disease activity status in RA. This implies that uric acid may not influence systemic inflammation in RA” (Choe and Kim,

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which your joints are very sore and ache multiple times of the day. This disease is in the autoimmune system because the immune system mistakenly attacks your own body tissue and results in these pains. It ordinarily affects the small joints of your hands and feet. The lining of these joints is attacked and causes painful swelling. It also affects other organs such as your skin, eyes, lungs, and blood vessels. If not treated correctly it is known to cause bone deformity. Rheumatoid arthritis is predominantly more common in women and generally begins around age 40.

The guideline by the ACR recommends treating patients with established RA with moderate or high disease activity and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III and IV CHF with combination DMARDs therapy, a non-TNF biologics, or tofacitinib rather than a TNF inhibitors. In cases, when patient with RA and CHF is treated with a TNF inhibitors and their CHF worsens then the medications should be switched to combination DMARDs therapy, a non TNF biologic, or tofacitinib.