Arthritis - Rheumatoid Arthritis

Welcome! Let's continue our topic on Arthritis. Today, Auntie would like to share about rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

 

Alright, everyone. Now, let's talk about rheumatoid arthritis. According to Malaysia Foundation of Arthritis statistic in 2011, rheumatoid arthritis had affected about 5 in 1000 nationwide, and considered common medical condition.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an chronically autoimmune inflammation disease, where our own body immune system caused the joints to inflame. Rheumatoid arthritis may be genetically transferred from parent to children.

Just like osteoarthritis, anyone can suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, but it commonly suffered by those between 30 to 50 years old, and mainly among women. Other factors include being obese/overweight, and smokers.

So, how does it start? In rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial membrane is been attacked by body own immune system by releasing many type of inflammation mediators, causing the synovial to inflames and thickens. This led the cartilage and bone within the joints to deteriorate. Other than that, the tendon and ligaments also become weaken and stretched, which caused the joints to lose their shape and alignment.

Diagram 1 shows the stages of rheumatoid arthritis
Image credited to DRJOCKERS.com

Rheumatoid arthritis have almost the same symptoms to osteoarthritis. The only distinct difference is that people with rheumatoid arthritis normally have asymmetrical (occur on either left or right side of body) symptoms of joint pain, stiffness and 'flare-up', and usually accompanied with feeling feverish, fatigue and loss of appetite. The following diagram shows few of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis: 

Diagram 2 shows symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

In the early stage, rheumatoid arthritis may affects only the small joints like in fingers and toes. Then, it progressively spread to the other body joints. 

Osteoarthritis vs. Rheumatoid Arthritis. What are the differences?

Confused? Let Auntie explain it to you using the following table.

Table 1 shows the difference between the rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis in (1) Cause; (2) Age range; (3) Onset rate; (4) Joint symptoms; (5) Patterns; (6) Duration of joint stiffness; and (7) Systemic symptoms

Diagram 3 shows the difference between normal joint, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
Image credited to KateAedon/shutterstock.com

Alright, that's all for now. Be sure to check out MOBITREX and ORTHOTREX! Stay Home, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy!