Rheumatoid Arthritis is what?

“What is rheumatoid arthritis?” is a question asked by many people although the disorder is widespread. This is due to the fact that the disorder is till date not totally understood considering a number of points. With the help of continued research, we are able to gather a little fraction of knowledge associated with this sickness and the study indicates that it is an autoimmune disorder and causes long-standing inflammation chiefly in joints and also in other body parts.

Autoimmune sicknesses are diseases which appear when the immune mechanism of the body is confused in knowing its own healthy tissue as foreign substances and destructs them. Rheumatoid arthritis comes under this category and because it can destroy many other body parts, it is known as systemic sickness and it is also named as rheumatoid disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis depicts no particular mode of furtherance and the disease shows various manifestations amongst different individuals. The commonest symptoms of this disease are inflammation of joints, which include pain, redness, swelling and stiffness. The period during which these symptoms occur with severity is named as a flare. In some people, these symptoms are depicted persistently whereas in some other individuals, they burst and subside. The period when the symptoms are not at all present can be varying for a number of days, weeks, months or even years.

Detection of RA is very difficult and indefinite. Various laboratory tests have to be performed to ensure the occurrence of RA, which too is not that guaranteed. An antibody called Rheumatoid Factor, named also as RF or RhF, sometimes grows in the patient’s body. Its occurrence shows much surely the appearance of the illness. But if it is not existing, then too it cannot be diagnosed that the ailment is not occurring. Thus there are two kinds of the disease, known as seropositive RA and seronegative RA. Seropositive rheumatoid arthritis manifests occurrence of rheumatoid factor in the person’s body, (while|whereas} seronegative rheumatoid arthritis reveals that it is absent. It is seen that, RA is more common in women, but seropositive RA is more predominant in men and is a bit subtle counterpart of the illness.

It is utmost vital to manage the disease in its initial level, as it can develops into hazardous effects in future. It has been ascertained that in time management at least discourages the furtherance of the disorder and sometimes even stops it. So, if you think that you have got rheumatoid arthritis, visit the healthcare provider without delay.

Along with the usual treatments, lifestyle alterations can bring about quite a lot of improvement in the disorder. You have to keep watching your own flares and remissions and decide which activities deteriorate or calm down the symptoms. Cutting out saturated fats, smoking and sugar from the day-to-day habits significantly soothes the symptoms. And also, addition of omega-3 fatty acids, contained in cold water fish, like herrings and salmon, helps a lot to enhance the symptoms. Milk and other dairy products, fresh veggies, whole grains and fruits also bring about significant improvement.

To lessen the damage to the weight-bearing joints, weight-loss is also very much vital in RA. It can be achieved by avoiding sugar and fats from the diet and performing light exercise continuously. Workout is also necessary to keep the joints active.

Additional to all this, if you continue gathering increasing information associated with this sickness, it will be helpful. Hence keep on asking the question, “What is rheumatoid arthritis?”