Conditions Spotlight: Rheumatoid Arthritis
There you are, waking up for another day of work, family, or fun. Only it’s already too hard to move. Your joints seem to have become solid overnight. They’re painful, warm, swollen, red. Swinging your legs out of bed to walk to get into a hot bath, grab ice or pain meds, or to get to the toilet is nearly impossible.
The thing is, you didn’t overdo it last night. You didn’t party, run a marathon, or do anything to warrant this type of reaction. In fact, you were exhausted and stayed in your most comfortable chair all evening and went to sleep early.
And this isn’t the first time it’s happened. Your doctor may do some examinations and unfortunately declare you have Rheumatoid Arthritis.
What’s that?
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorder that can affect more than just your joints. For some people it can even damage your skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels.
RA affects the lining of your joints, causing a painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity. Unlike osteoarthritis which is caused by wear-and-tear.
Inflammation associated with RA is what damages other parts of the body. New types of medications have improved treatment options dramatically, but severe Rheumatoid Arthritis can still cause physical disabilities.
Signs And Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis Include:
● Tender, warm, and swollen joints
● Joint stiffness that’s usually worse in the mornings after inactivity
● Fatigue, fever, and loss of appetite
Early rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect your smaller joints first — particularly the joints that attach your fingers to your hands and your toes to your feet.
As the disease progresses, symptoms often spread to the wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, hips, and shoulders. In most cases, symptoms occur in the same joints on both sides of your body.
Rheumatoid arthritis signs and symptoms may vary in severity and may even come and go. Periods of increased disease activity, called flares, alternate with periods of relative remission — when the swelling and pain fade or disappear. Over time, rheumatoid arthritis can cause joints to deform and shift out of place.
40% of people who have rheumatoid arthritis also experience signs and symptoms that don't involve the joints.
Are You at Risk?
● Women are more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis.
● RA can occur at any age, but it most commonly begins in middle age.
● If a member of your family has rheumatoid arthritis, you have an increased risk of having the same disease.
● Cigarette smoking increases your risk of developing RA and with greater severity of symptoms, particularly if you have a genetic predisposition for developing the disease.
● People who are overweight appear to be at a somewhat higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
The Four Stages Of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Stage I: Synovitis
During stage I, you may start having mild symptoms, including joint pain and joint stiffness. Most commonly, this affects the hands and fingers, as well as the ankles and knees. The immune system has begun attacking the joint tissue, causing the synovial membrane to swell and become inflamed.
Stage II: Pannus
In stage II of rheumatoid arthritis, the continued inflammation has led to a thinning of the cartilage. Normally, cartilage helps provide some cushion for the bones and makes joint motion more fluid. Without all that cushion, joint pain and stiffness may worsen. This also sets the stage for joint damage. Without the protection of cartilage, the bones may begin to erode at the joint.
Stage III: Fibrous Ankylosis
Ankylosis is a term for when bones start to fuse together at a joint, causing unusual lack of mobility. In stage III, the damaged joint area starts to fuse with a connective fibrous tissue. This will severely limit your range of motion, which may make simple tasks even more difficult. At this point, your joints may start to appear bent and crooked.
Stage IV: Bony Ankylosis
As the name suggests, stage IV is when the bones fuse together with actual bone tissue instead of just a connective fibrous tissue. At this stage, pain actually goes away, but so does the ability to move. The joint is essentially gone, so you can’t bend or flex the area. Once someone has stage IV rheumatoid arthritis, they may have trouble doing the tasks and hobbies that they normally would.
What to Do if You Have RA
You’ll definitely want to work with your doctor to find the best solutions that work for you. Keep in mind, you’re able to do much toward your own healing. The most important thing you have control over when being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis is your nutrition intake. For more information on how to do this, download my FREE eBook: Write Your Own Prescription here.
In fact, inflammation is the biggest factor in all autoimmune cases which means when you lower yours with changes to your diet, exercise, and supplement intake, your healing is accelerated.
Taming the flame of systemic inflammation should be the first place you start and top priority for anyone with an autoimmune disorder. Start with simple steps, such as reducing sugar intake and upping your veggies with each meal. Increase your exercise daily and stay super hydrated.
It feels good to know there are actions you can control to help your symptoms and avoid further disease.
For more information on inflammation, read my previous blog article here.
Rheumatoid Arthritis is really hard to live with, but when you can reduce flare-ups and severity of your symptoms (or eliminate them altogether), then you’ll know relief beyond your imagination.
Here’s to your health!
