Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is considered an autoimmune disease which affects only 1 to 2 percent of the population. However, it is primarily a woman�s disease as three times as many women suffer from RA than men.

Rheumatoid arthritis afflicts many joints in the body at the same time. It also causes damage to tissue and organs throughout the body. RA affects the whole body because of the chronic inflammation.

If the progression of rheumatoid arthritis is unchecked, joint range of motion can be severely impaired due to the excess fibrous tissue the body produces under these conditions. The tissues surrounding the joints usually are inflamed which further damages the joints.

Early treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has been shown to improve function and stop damage. Optimal treatment of rheumatoid arthritis involves a combination of medication (prescription and natural alternatives like Arthritin), rest, exercise, joint care, stress reduction and healthful diet.

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Self Test for Rheumatoid Arthritis:
_ Are you between the ages of 25 and 50 years old?
_ Are the joints on both sides of the body affected (i.e., both the left and right knee)?
_ Did the pain and swelling develop in just a few weeks or months?
_ Are you experiencing major fatigue?
_ Are your joints swollen, red, and warm?
_ Do you often have a fever?
_ Have you lost weight recently?
_ Are you stiff in the mornings?
_ Do you have general feelings of fatigue and sickness?

While many of the above symptoms can indicate osteoarthritis, the most usual indicator of rheumatoid arthritis is affliction of the same joint on both sides of the body at the same time. It is usual that this symmetrical, bilateral pattern is an indicator to the doctor of a case of rheumatoid arthritis rather than osteoarthritis.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms: Is it chronic fatigue syndrome? Is it lupus? Is it fibromyalgia? It isn�t easy to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis. Vague, non-specific symptoms characterize this disease. They are the kinds of symptoms that accompany a number of other disorders - i.e., fatigue, loss of appetite, and weight loss. Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers may experience morning stiffness which gets better as they get up, start moving around and the day progresses. Any strenuous activity, like a jog in the park, results in stiffness. And�.as the condition progresses, the periods of stiffness last longer and longer.

The ankles, knees, toes, fingers and wrists become inflamed, swollen, red and painful. The telltale bilateral joint involvement usually is present (e.g., in the right and left ankles).

While the tips of the fingers are affected with osteoarthritis, with rheumatoid arthritis they aren�t. Rheumatoid nodules, which are collections of inflammatory cells, form and are found in tissues throughout the body. Approximately 20 percent of patients develop rheumatoid nodules.

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In a period of months or over many years, the joints become deformed. Range of motion in the affected areas becomes very limited.

Diagnosis: Diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis is difficult, because the symptoms go in and out of remission. Therefore, physicians rely on various laboratory tests to confirm a diagnosis. One useful test checks for the presence of abnormal protein in the blood. About 85 percent of RA sufferers have this abnormality present. However, this test isn�t always definitive since abnormal proteins are found in persons with autoimmune and a whole list of other disorders.

Another test, and usually the first, is to take a small sample of synovial fluid from the affected joint. The presence of high white blood cells would indicate the body�s anti-inflammatory response. X-rays in patients who have had continuing symptoms for six months or more also are useful. In the later stages of rheumatoid arthritis, x-rays will show bony erosions and diminished space between the joints.

The good news of rheumatoid arthritis is the remission rate. Approximately 10 percent of patients diagnosed with RA experience complete remission within one year. Another 40 to 65 percent go into remission within two years. For those patients, the symptoms usually are mild and the rheumatoid factors are low.

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