Rheumatoid Arthritis and its Affects

Rheumatoid arthritis affects the many joints in our bodies and is not prominent in any one place over the other. This type of arthritis also affects the heart, lungs and the blood as well. Rheumatoid arthritis is the inflammation of synovium, or joint lining. The pain suffered from this extremely painful disease can be from stiffness, redness, swelling, and warmth. The joints that are affected over time may lose their shape and will result in the loss of normal everyday movement. Rheumatoid arthritis generally starts around the age of twenty and can last a lifetime. This type of disease typically flares and can have active symptoms or in remissions with no symptoms or only a few of them.

The Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis affect each person differently but in general have the same affects. Rheumatoid arthritis is a symmetrical pattern disease, which means that if one side of the body if affected, the other side is affected at the same time as well. Joint tenderness, swelling and stiffness can last for more then an hour after a long rest period and in the mornings as well, in some cases, rheumatoid arthritis symptoms can last for an extended period. Malaise is the most common symptom of this disease; it is a general feeling of fatigue and can have a persistent fever with an overall sense of not feeling well.

What are the causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is as autoimmune disease, which means that the body's immune system is not working as it should and lets the rheumatoid arthritis disease attack the healthy joints and the tissues around it, allowing for the initiation of joint damage and inflammation. No one is positive on the exact cause of why people get rheumatoid arthritis, but many scientists believe there are a lot of common factors among the people that suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Hereditary and genetics is a major contribution to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the particular genes that are passed from one family member to next.

Some professionals also believe that rheumatoid arthritis can be caused from a trigger like an infection caused by bacterium or a virus in people that have the inherited tendency for the rheumatoid arthritis disease. Rheumatoid arthritis in a way, may be triggered through a virus, yet it is not something that is contagious and you cannot give it to other people, you cannot "catch it"