Rheumatoid arthritis is generally a systemic disorder that is accompanied by swollen, inflamed, painful joints. This disease can happen any time starting from infancy and further on, and it strikes not only certain muscles and joints, but in some extreme situations, vital organs. Most often it happens in the period from 20 to 35 years old. And women are 3 times vulnerable as men till 50 years old. One-third of the sufferers are generally free of any signs for long; two-thirds of people can get over fully by adulthood.
Exact causes of rheumatoid arthritis are unknown, neither known the ways of preventing this disease. The disorder most commonly strikes genetically predisposed people when certain conditions disturb the immunity. More and more researchers consider that the condition might be some virus, with special emphasis on Epstein-Barr virus as well as herpes like organisms generally attributed to infectious mononucleosis. Actually rheumatoid arthritis can be described as a type of autoimmune disorder. This means that the body begins to attack the tissues found in it. This leads to pain and stiffness in some areas as well as general fatigue and malaise, also weight loss and fever.
Classic rheumatoid arthritis
In rheumatoid arthritis joints are usually become lubricated by some type of secretion coming from the membrane forming the lining. Actually the lining is named synovial membrane. Rheumatoid arthritis is when synovial tissue is inflamed, which results in a really rapid proliferation occurring in the synovial cells that crowd the way to the joint. The synovial tissue that is inflamed gets into the cartilage and then it might start to erode bones.
Commonly the disorder hits hand and feet joints, on both the sides, though it can be found in the hips, shoulders and elbows. The damage might spread to the related tendons and ligaments, making neighboring muscles go into pain spasms because they are wasting away due to the disuse. If not treated, the disease can make the affected joints misshapen and can cause their loss of functioning.
Symptoms
In early stages, the joints affected are red and swollen they are also painful and extremely warm. Sometimes the joint signs can be accompanied by fever, malaise, appetite loss. It is worth mentioning that joint stiffness develops when your body is at rest, thus diminishing gradually due to the fact that muscles are actually reactivated. If the pains prevent sleep and if stiffness and swelling impede usual functioning, also if aspirin treatment fails you should immediately revolve to the medical help.