Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, which means that your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake, causing inflammation (painful swelling) in the affected parts of the body. RA mainly attacks the joints, usually many joints at once.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
This autoimmune disorder affects your joints and causes swelling and pain. Over time, inflammation can damage your cartilage and bones, and you can't move them as well. RA also can cause problems with your heart and lungs. Medications can help with symptoms and slow the disease down.
Myositis (my-o-SY-tis) is a rare type of autoimmune disease that inflames and weakens muscle fibers. Autoimmune diseases occur when the body's own immune system attacks itself. In the case of myositis, the immune system attacks healthy muscle tissue, which results in inflammation, swelling, pain, and eventual weakness.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. It tends to involve more than one of the small joints of the hands and feet. In particular, the lining of the joint or tendons (the synovium) is inflamed, causing warmth, pain, and stiffness.
Lupus and Scleroderma
The autoimmune diseases systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma often present with joint involvement that mimics rheumatoid arthritis. While lupus and scleroderma are two different diseases, they often overlap with one another.
Osteoarthritis (disease causing the breakdown of joints)
Allergies, wounds, and diseases can all cause inflammation. The most common causes of joint inflammation are injuries and inflammatory arthritis. Pain and inflammation resulting from injuries usually resolve, but inflammatory arthritis is a chronic condition that may get worse with time.
When fluid builds in the body it is called edema, which means swelling. Swelling caused by lupus usually appears in the feet, ankles, legs, and eyelids, but may occur across the whole body. Swelling can be a sign of a more serious condition, lupus nephritis.
Many types of autoimmune diseases cause redness, swelling, heat, and pain, which are the signs and symptoms of inflammation. But other illnesses can cause the same symptoms. The symptoms of autoimmune diseases can come and go. During a flare-up, your symptoms may get severe for a while.
Arthritis is the swelling and tenderness of one or more joints. The main symptoms of arthritis are joint pain and stiffness, which typically worsen with age. The most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
No one test can tell if you have RA or lupus. Instead, your doctor will ask about your symptoms and family history, do a physical exam, and order some lab and imaging tests. During the physical exam, your doctor will feel your joints to see if the swelling feels hard. If it does, it could mean you have osteoarthritis.
Acute pain in multiple joints is most often due to inflammation, gout, or the beginning or flare up of a chronic joint disorder. Chronic pain in multiple joints is usually due to osteoarthritis or an inflammatory disorder (such as rheumatoid arthritis) or, in children, juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Inflammation is associated with diseases such as the following: Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure and heart disease. Gastrointestinal disorders like inflammatory bowel disease.
If you think your joint inflammation is due to a sudden injury, the RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) method is the first line of treatment to reduce pain and swelling. See an orthopedist if the pain and swelling don't diminish after RICE treatment.
People who have low levels of vitamin D often have joint pain. Vitamin D supplements may treat joint pain in some people who have a vitamin D deficiency. However, research doesn't support that people with healthy levels of vitamin D take should take these supplements for joint pain.
The most common causes of chronic pain in joints are: Osteoarthritis, a common type of arthritis, happens over time when the cartilage, the protective cushion in between the bones, wears away. The joints become painful and stiff. Osteoarthritis develops slowly and usually occurs during middle age.
Sudden joint pain that occurs all over the body may signal the onset of a chronic condition, such as osteoarthritis, lupus or fibromyalgia, or even an infectious disease such as influenza or the mumps.
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.
No blood test can definitively prove or rule out a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, but several tests can show indications of the condition. Some of the main blood tests used include: erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) – which can help assess levels of inflammation in the body.
The new criteria are as follows: 1) morning stiffness in and around joints lasting at least 1 hour before maximal improvement; 2) soft tissue swelling (arthritis) of 3 or more joint areas observed by a physician; 3) swelling (arthritis) of the proximal interphalangeal, metacarpophalangeal, or wrist joints; 4) symmetric ...