Rheumatoid Arthritis: Here are the early signs and symptoms of the disease
1.3 crore people in India suffer from rheumatoid arthritis
As per a 2021 news report, 1.3 crore people in India suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. The US CDC defines rheumatoid arthritis as 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.
What is rheumatoid arthritis? How to spot it?
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease. In this case, the body's own immune system attacks its healthy cells thus causing inflammation. The effect is usually seen in the joints. The US CDC says, "rheumatoid arthritis commonly affects joints in the hands, wrists, and knees. In a joint with RA, the lining of the joint becomes inflamed, causing damage to joint tissue. This tissue damage can cause long-lasting or chronic pain, unsteadiness (lack of balance), and deformity (misshapenness)."
It is not easy to spot arthritis signs in the body as these signs show up very slowly. Experts at Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center say, "The typical case of rheumatoid arthritis begins insidiously, with the slow development of signs and symptoms over weeks to months. Often the patient first notices stiffness in one or more joints, usually accompanied by pain on movement and by tenderness in the joint."
Is it related to age?
No. Rheumatoid arthritis is not related to age. Only one type of arthritis, Osteoarthritis, is associated with age. In this case the joint's cartilage gets damaged. This leads to deterioration of bone health and tissues that attach muscle to bone and hold the joints together.
What are the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis?
There are several symptoms linked with the rheumatoid arthritis like: fatigue, joint pain, joint tenderness, joint swelling, joint redness, joint warmth, joint stiffness, loss of joint range of motion, many joints affected (polyarthritis), limping, joint deformity, both sides of the body affected (symmetric), loss of joint function, anemia, fever, and depression.
Among these the most common ones are joint pain, joint swelling, fatigue, and fever.
Joint pain in rheumatoid arthritis
Joint pain or tenderness that lasts for more than six weeks is said to be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis. Experts say usually small joints are affected first and gradually the same joints on the both sides of the body get affected.
A visible sign of rheumatoid arthritis can be morning stiffness for more than 30 minutes as per rheumatologists. This happens because during the night, your body releases anti-inflammatory chemicals to ease joint pain and stiffness but by the morning, it is no longer able to fight the chemicals that cause inflammation, as a result of which one wakes up with stiff, painful joints.
Joint swelling in rheumatoid arthritis
Swelling of proximal interphalangeal (PIP) and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints of the hands is a commonly early finding, say experts at the John Hopkins Arthritis Center.
Occasionally inflamed joints will feel warm to the touch, they have added.
"Inflammation, structural deformity, or both may limit the range of motion of the joint. Over time, some patients with RA develop deformities in the hands or feet," they have said.
Fever in rheumatoid arthritis
Due to inflammation of the joints, the body experiences low fever. Low fever is always a sign of inflammation. It has always been an underlying condition of the majority of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
Experts say fever in rheumatoid arthritis can range between 100-102F.
Fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis
The inflammation can lead to overall physical weakness, drowsiness and exhaustion. Fatigue should not be confused with tiredness. In fatigue the body feels completely drained out of energy. It increases the need for sleep and reduces the concentration power of the body. Many people describe fatigue as uncontrollable.