What is Rheumatoid Arthritis? Read out full article to get detail about causes and symptoms Rheumatoid Arthritis. Also, get detail about medication which are used to treat RA and side effects of this medication.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic (long-term), systemic inflammatory disorder. In short term, it is referred to as RA. It causes inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues. It may affect many tissues and organs, but principally it attacks synovial joints. Normally, inflammation is a response by the body’s immune system to “assaults” for example infections, wounds, and foreign objects. In case of rheumatoid arthritis, the inflammation is misdirected to assault the joints. Generally, rheumatoid arthritis affects both sides of joints of the body equally. Most commonly affected joints are the wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles.
Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis:
The causes of rheumatoid arthritis are unknown. It is an autoimmune disease, a disease where the body’s immune system normally fights off foreign substances such as viruses, confuses healthy tissue for foreign substances. This resulted in the body attacks itself. RA can occur at any age but it is usually seen in people aged between 25 and 55. Generally, women are affected more often than men. The course and the severity of the disease can vary significantly. Infection, genes, and hormones may all contribute in the development of the disease.
Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis:
Usually, rheumatoid arthritis begins gradually with following symptoms:
- Swollen glands
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Low fever
Eventually, joint pain appears.
- Morning stiffness is common, which lasts more than 1 hour. Evenly, joints can become warm, tender, and stiff when not used for as little as an hour.
- Joint pain is frequently felt on both sides of the body.
- The fingers (but not the fingertips), wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, toes, jaw, and neck may be affected by this.
- Over time, joints lose their range of motion and may become deformed.
- The joints are often swollen and feel warm and boggy (or spongy) to the touch.
Other symptoms include:
- Eye burning, itching, and discharge
- Chest pains when taking a breath (pleurisy)
- Numbness, tingling, or burning in the hands and feet
- Joint destruction may occur within 1-2 years after the disease appears
- Nodules under the skin (usually a sign of more severe disease)
Diagnosis of Rheumatoid arthritis:
- Diagnosis of Rheumatoid arthritis is carried out on the basis of the results of Joint x-rays and a Rheumatoid factor test (which is positive in about 75% of people with symptoms).
- Additionally, the Erythrocyte sedimentation rate is elevated and the complete blood count (CBC) may show low hematocrit (anemia) or abnormal platelet counts.
- To diagnose the cause of pain and swelling in join, a C-reactive protein test may be used but it may also be positive for patients with no detectable rheumatoid factor and Synovial fluid analysis.
Treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis:
The development of rheumatoid arthritis can not be prevented by any ways. But, proper early treatment can prevent further damage of the joints. Treatment of RA includes medications, physical therapy, exercise, education, and possibly surgery.
Medication:
To treat rheumatoid arthritis, many different types of medication are used. Medications can help with the pain and slow the rate of the disease; but, they can also cause some serious side effects too, like gastric ulcers and ringing in the ears. These medications include Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), immunosuppressants, TNF-alpha inhibitors, anakinra, abatacept and rituximab.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs):
NSAIDs can relieve pain and decrease inflammation. NSAIDs which are taken without prescription (Over-the-counter) include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve). Other stronger versions of these NSAIDs are available by prescription.
- Side effects of NSAIDs: Ringing in ears, increased bruising, gastric ulcers, heart problems, stomach bleeding, and liver and kidney damage.
Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs):
DMARDs can slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis and save the joints and other tissues from permanent damage. Methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall), leflunomide (Arava), hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), sulfasalazine (Azulfidine) and minocycline (Dynacin, Minocin) are common DMARDs.
- Side effects of DMARDs: Side effects of these drugs may vary but may include liver damage, bone marrow suppression and severe lung infections.
Steroids:
Corticosteroid medications, for example prednisone and methylprednisolone (Medrol), decrease inflammation and pain and slow joint damage. Doctors frequently prescribe a corticosteroid to relieve acute symptoms, with the goal of gradually tapering off the medication.
- Side effects of steroids: Easy bruising, thinning of bones, cataracts, weight gain, a round face and diabetes.
TNF-alpha inhibitors:
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), an inflammatory substance produced by body can help to decrease pain, morning stiffness, and tender or swollen joints usually within one or two weeks after treatment begins. Drugs include etanercept (Enbrel), infliximab (Remicade) and adalimumab (Humira).
- Side effects of TNF-alpha inhibitors: Injection site irritation, congestive heart failure, blood disorders, lymphoma, demyelinating diseases and increased risk of infection are the potential side effects of TNF-alpha inhibitors.
Immunosuppressants:
These medications help to suppress immune system of the body, which is out of control in rheumatoid arthritis. Azathioprine
(Imuran, Azasan), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune, Gengraf) and cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) are the immunosuppressant drugs.
- Side effects of Immunosuppressants: These medications can increase your susceptibility to infection.
Other drugs:
Other rheumatoid arthritis drugs target a range of inflammatory substances which are produced by body. These drugs include anakinra (Kineret), abatacept (Orencia) and rituximab (Rituxan). Decreased white blood cell counts, injection site reactions, headache and an increase in upper respiratory infections are the potential side effects of these drugs.
Each medication brings its own potential for side effects, which can be as mild as weight gain to something as severe as worsening congestive heart failure or even death (in cases of untreated infection). You can also use Natural home remedies for Arthritis pain relief. Some alternative therapies for Rheumatic Diseases also exist.
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