Arthritis is the term used for over 100 rheumatoid and joint related diseases, with the most common being Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. The word arthritis refers to “joint inflammation” and rheumatoid arthritis is actually an attack on the immune system where the system turns on itself and attacks the joints.
What are the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis? In some patients with rheumatoid arthritis, chronic inflammation leads to the destruction of the cartilage, bone and ligaments causing deformity of the joints. Unlike osteoarthritis, which results from wear and tear on your joints, rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is referred to as a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease.
The symptoms that distinguish rheumatoid arthritis from other forms of arthritis are inflammation and soft-tissue swelling of many joints at the same time. Thus, the pain of rheumatoid arthritis is usually worse in the morning compared to the classic pain of osteoarthritis where the pain worsens over the day as the joints are used. It is 4 times more common in smokers than non-smokers. More than two million people in the United States are affected by rheumatoid arthritis. This disease is three times more common in women than in men.
The main physical difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis is that with osteoarthritis when the cartilage between the bone ends has worn thin the pain results from the bone ends rubbing together. And with rheumatoid arthritis the cartilage is not thinned but the fluid filled membrane surrounding the joint becomes inflamed and the bones can actually start eroding.
It is suspected that susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis is an inherited trait. The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, but it’s believed to be the body’s immune system attacking the tissue that lines your joints. But rheumatoid arthritis can also affect young children and adults older than age 50.