Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease that affects roughly 1.5 million Americans. Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s immune system becomes confused and can no longer tell the difference between its own healthy cells and foreign invaders. This causes the body to attack itself and its healthy cells. In the case of RA, the body is primarily targeting the synovial tissues around the joints. It is a systemic disease and can affect many organs, including the lungs and heart. It often strikes many joints at once and leads to loss of bone density, leading to a variety of symptoms a patient might experience such as:
1. Fatigue
While pain is one of the first symptoms that come to mind when thinking of RA, it is actually the fatigue that accompanies the disease that becomes one of the most difficult symptoms to bear. Fatigue goes well beyond a simple feeling of tiredness. Many describe it as overwhelming, draining, and a loss of all interest in daily activities. It can begin to impact relationships with loved ones, make working extremely difficult, lead to depression, and can worsen the physical symptoms of RA. Overall, the fatigue suffered by RA can greatly diminish one’s quality of life if not well-managed by a patient or taken seriously by their healthcare professional.
2. Fever
Since the body is confused about which cells are invaders and which are healthy, it can cause a fever in response to its attack—just as it would if it were fighting a bacteria or virus. In fact, this can be an early indicator of RA. When the immune system gets all worked up to fight off a foreign invader, like the flu, for example, it makes proteins to fight those germs which results in a fever. When a patient has an autoimmune disease, their immune system ends up attacking healthy tissues and not a virus or bacteria, but this reaction can still produce a low-grade fever.
3. Weight loss
Weight loss in patients with RA can be an indicator that there are serious issues going on underneath the surface. For example, the inflammatory cytokines that cause damages to the joints may also lead to muscle weakness and wasting, or rheumatoid cachexia, usually in those with more serious disease or frequent smokers. It causes a multitude of issues, including heightened illness and osteoporosis. Those with weight loss and rheumatoid cachexia also often have weaker functional capabilities. Loss of appetite might also be another factor in unattended weight loss in those with RA.
4. Stiff joints
One difficult symptom of the immune system attacking the joints is stiffness at the sight of the joint experiencing inflammation. RA often comes with joint stiffness that is typically worse in the mornings and after inactivity. The stiffness is prevalent and often lasts an hour if not longer. It is one distinctive early characteristic of the disease that distinguishes it from other forms of arthritis and leads to a diagnosis of RA.
5. Tender joints
Tenderness at the joints is yet another symptom of RA, again caused by the body attacking those tissues surrounding the joint, causing sensitive, warm sensations around those areas. In its early stages, RA often causes tenderness before any swelling or pain appears in the joint. The first joints that usually become tender are the smaller ones like the fingers or toes. As RA progresses, it begins to attack other joints, including wrists, knees, and so forth. Treatments for RA patients include medications, lifestyle changes, physical therapy and sometimes even surgery to help alleviate some of the symptoms incurred by the autoimmune disease.
6. Painful and swollen joints
RA unfortunately brings with it pain and swollen joints. The damage caused by the autoimmune condition causes long-lasting and chronic pain. The symptoms of RA usually begin between the ages of 30 and 60 in women. For men, they typically begin after age 45.
While the symptoms of RA can be overwhelming, finding an optimal care plan and implementing it into everyday life can help patients lead a full, happy life.
