Rheumatoid Arthritis Signs, Symptoms and Treatment

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• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory
  arthritis in which joints of the hands and feet,
  are inflamed, which results in joint pains,
  swelling and frequent destruction of joints.
  Small joints of the limbs become painful and
  have stiffness which persists for about 60
  minutes on awakening and after inactivity. Due
  to weakness, fever and damage to other organs may
  also occur. RA affects both sides of the body.
  For example, if a joint is affected in one arm or
  leg then a similar joint of the other arm or leg
  will be affected too. This is one of the ways RA
  is identified by the doctors from other forms of
  arthritis like Osteoarthritis (OA).
• Rheumatoid arthritis develops in about 1 in the
  whole worlds population. Women are affected
• 2 times more than men. It appears in the age
  group between 35 to 50years. A similar disease in
  children may occur which is known as Juvenile
  idiopathic arthritis.
• The cause of Rheumatoid arthritis is not known,
  it is considered as an autoimmune disease. The
  components of the immune system attack the soft
  tissues and will also attack the connective
  tissue in other parts of the body such as blood
  vessels and lungs. Due to this, gradually the
  bone, cartilage and the ligaments of the joints
  wear away causing deformity. Many unknown factors
  like viral infections and smoking play a vital
  role.
• Treatments work best when RA is identified at an
  early stage, so its significant to learn the
  signs.
• Read on to acquire all you want to know about RA,
  from kinds and indications, to home remedies,
  diets, and other treatments.
• Symptoms
• People who have RA may experience these symptoms
• Joint pain, fatigue, Joint tenderness, Joint
  swelling, redness in joints, Joint stiffness,
  Loss of joint function, limping, joint
  deformity, both sides of the joints affected,
  Anemia, Fever, Depression.
• Some may feel tired and weak by afternoon. RA may
  also cause loss of appetite with weight loss.
• The signs and symptoms of RA may vary from person
  to person. Intense RA symptoms are known as
  flare-ups, and inactive periods. Other times when
  symptoms are less is known as remission.
• Diagnosis
• The 3 tests which doctors follow to diagnose RA
• Blood tests
• X-rays
• Examination of fluid joints

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It is difficult to diagnose RA at early stages.
There is no single test or physical finding to
confirm the diagnoses. Your doctor will do a
physical check-up of your joints for swelling,
redness and warmth. Doctor will also test your
reflexes and strength in muscles. Blood test The
blood tests are done to find the blood levels of
rheumatoid factor and Anti CCP antibodies or
C-reactive protein (CRP), ESR or both. Rheumatoid
factor test RF is a group of antibodies that
attack the affected persons own tissues instead
of attacking the harmful bacteria or viruses. If
Rheumatoid factor in the blood is high then it
means the autoimmune system is acting up. The RF
test is mostly associated with RA but isnt
limited to that disease. Anti Cyclic
Citrullinated protein antibody test
(anti-CCP) This test is doneto find out anti-CCP
antibodies in the blood. Citrulline is produced
naturally in the body as part of the metabolism
of the amino acid arginine. Citrulline changes
the protein structure and may trigger the immune
response, by producing the auto antibodies
against joint proteins. Antinuclear antibody
test This test is done to find out the amount
and pattern of antibodies in the blood that works
against your own body (autoimmune
reaction). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
(ESR) The ESR is high in people who have active
rheumatoid arthritis. This test is done to know
the level of inflammation and measures the speed
of red blood cells settling to the bottom of a
test tube containing blood sample. Normally red
blood cells settle relatively slow, if they
settle faster than normal rate then it indicates
the inflammation in the body. C-reactive protein
test CRP is a blood test to check the amount of
protein called C-reactive protein in the blood.
This helps in measuring the general levels of
inflammation in the body. Many infections and
long term diseases will cause high level of CRP.
This CRP test cannot identify the root cause or
the location of the inflammation. Other tests
are required to understand the actual
cause. Treatment for Rheumatoid arthritis The
treatments that are suggested by the doctor
depends on the severity of the symptoms and the
duration of RA. The procedure of treatment will
differ from person to person. The main aim for
your doctor is to stop inflammation and relive
from the symptoms, reduce further damage of
joint and organ, improvise the physical function
and reduce long term
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• complications. To achieve all these you would be
  suggested to take medications and also lifestyle
  changes are required. If these do not help then
  surgery would be suggested.
• Measures to be taken
• Drugs By taking the DMARDs (disease modifying
  antirheumatic drug) will slow the progression of
  the disease and it will also help reducing some
  symptoms. These drugs are started as soon as RA
  is diagnosed.
• Exercising
• Simple exercises can benefit for relieving pain
  and stiffness. These exercises and stretches will
  help mainly during a flare. Exercising will
  improve the joint mobility and flexibility,
  reduces painful symptoms. The best exercises are
  stretching, walking, yoga, Pilates, swimming,
  cycling, hand exercises, gardening.
• Is rest is the best way
• Inflamed joints require more rest during
  flare-ups. Frequent rest periods may help relieve
  pain. A
• short period of bed rest with good sleep will
  help to diminish inflammation in its most active
  painful stage. You can try splints and braces as
  a support when you rest. You can use canes and
  crutches to keep up mobility.
• Therapies
• You can also follow few nondrug therapies such as
  massages, traction and deep heat treatments (
  helps in muscle functioning, reduces stiffness
  and muscle spasm), self help devices such as
  grippers will help your hand when you need to
  squeeze forcefully, applying ice packs will
  reduce pain.
• Manage life with RA.
• Prevention tips
• Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease.
  The root cause of this is unknown it is very
• difficult to escape from RA. You can only lessen
  the symptoms and try to prevent it by making
  lifestyle changes.
• Find out more home remedies and therapies to
  bring down the pain.
• Try acupuncture
• A diet change is important.
• Exercise

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• lose weight if you are obese