Article Medically Reviewed By:
Mary E. Cronin, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI
Overview
What Is It?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks and damages the joints and, sometimes, other organs.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and potentially debilitating inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in the joints.
According to the Arthritis Foundation, RA affects about 1.3 million Americans, mostly women, who make up 70 percent of people with the condition. Men, however, are usually more severely affected by RA. The age of onset can vary, but it typically occurs between ages 30 and 50, with the risk increasing as a person ages. The good news is that new advancements in treatment that have made it possible to slow or stop the progression of RA.
Unlike the more common osteoarthritis, which is mainly a disease of the cartilage in joints, RA occurs when the body's immune system attacks and damages the joints and, sometimes, other organs. RA often occurs in a symmetrical pattern, meaning that if one knee or hand is involved, the other one is, too.
The condition is considered an autoimmune disease. Such diseases are characterized by an immune-system attack on the body's healthy tissues. In RA, white blood cells travel to the synovium (the membranes that surround joints) and cause inflammation, or synovitis. The ensuing warmth, redness, swelling and pain are typical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, which usually affects the wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles.
The continuous inflammation associated with RA gradually destroys cartilage, which coats the end of the bones. This narrows the joint space and eventually damages bone. The surrounding muscles, ligaments and tendons that support and stabilize the joint also become weak and unable to work normally.
Symptoms can include fatigue, occasional fever, morning stiffness, difficulty moving a joint or several joints, pain and inflammation in or around a joint and a general sense of malaise.
Rheumatoid arthritis varies from person to person, but most cases are chronic, meaning they never go away. Some people have mild or moderate disease, with flares (periods of worsening symptoms) and remissions. For others, the disease is active most of the time. The resulting joint damage can be disabling.
The disease can affect more than just the joints, bones and surrounding muscle. About one-quarter of those with RA develop rheumatoid nodules. These are bumps under the skin that often form close to the joints. Many people with rheumatoid arthritis develop anemia. Other effects, which occur less often, include neck pain and dry eyes and mouth. Very rarely, RA results in inflammation of the blood vessels, the lining of the lungs, or the sac enclosing the heart. If you have RA, you may also be at increased risk for infections and ...
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