It is well-known that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an extremely painful and debilitating form of arthritis that affects older patients with a genetic predisposition to the disease. It is a common fear for individuals who have relatives with the disease, and fear developing it themselves. Rheumatoid arthritis can decrease life expectancy significantly and make the last years of a patient's life much less comfortable than it might have been otherwise.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory form of arthritis. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial lining of several joints in the body is severely inflamed, causing severe pain and loss of motion. This can result in permanently bent or misshapen joints as well as "curving" of the bones themselves. Rheumatoid arthritis usually occurs in a symmetrical pattern, meaning that both sides of the synovial lining are affected equally.
Initially, patients with rheumatoid arthritis will experience pain and tingling in the koints of the hands, wrists, ankles and feet. Later, larger and more complicated joints will become involved, sparing very few in the body. This is why rheumatoid arthritis is so painful - it is nearly universal and cannot be corrected.
Approximately 70% of patients have the genetic markers for a predisposition to rheumatoid arthritis, which makes it an acquired autoimmune disease. Slightly fewer patients (approximately 60%) have rheumatoid factors, which are antibodies that occur in the blood stream. The more rheumatoid factors in the blood stream, the more debilitating the disease, and the worse the prognosis.
Doctors also speculate that there is an environmental trigger that may increase the likelihood of the development of rheumatoid arthritis. The precise environmental trigger is unknown, though it may have to do with climate or proximity to power lines. Patients with hyper normal immune responses are also more likely to contract RA. Essentially, however, it is impossible to determine exactly which patients will actually develop the disease, and which simply carry the genetic predisposition toward it.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects approximately 2% of the U.S. population, and occurs three times more often in females than in males. Life expectancy decreases more in males (seven years) than in females (four years), but it is equally painful in both genders who have it. Most patients who develop rheumatoid arthritis will be considered legally disabled within five years of onset, while some may continue to function normally after ten years.
There is still quite a bit that researchers do not know about rheumatoid arthritis, and the medical industry spends approximately $14 billion dollars each year in the search for a medication that will cure or significantly lower the symptoms of RA. Most patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis are given prescriptions for pain medications, and many are hospitalized after several years.
By Steve Thompson -
Steve is a full-time freelance writer. In addition to the more than 3, 000 articles he's written for AC, he has also written articles and other materials for more than 100 happy clients. He enjoys writing abo...
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It is well-known that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an extremely painful and debilitating form of arthritis that affects older patients with a genetic predisposition to the disease. It is a common fear for individuals who have relatives with the disease, and fear developing it themselves. Rheumatoid arthritis can decrease life expectancy significantly and make the last years of a patient's life much less comfortable than it might have been otherwise.
Rheumatoid Arthritis