1. Diagnosing Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis, more commonly found in women between the ages of 40 and 60, can attack both sexes and any age group. Early symptoms are stiffness in the morning, swollen, painful joints---and the same joints on both sides of your body are likely to feel the effects---or hard nodules on or near your joints. That's when you need to see your physician. No single test will determine if you have rheumatoid arthritis. The diagnosis is made based on signs and symptoms, laboratory tests and X-rays. Your doctor will do a blood test to determine your RF factor, and she may draw fluid from your joints to look for gout crystals or a bacterial infection, either of which might rule out rheumatoid arthritis. If you're diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, you need to take some time to determine how to deal with this life-changing, chronic condition.
2. Stages of the Disease
Rheumatoid arthritis cycles through periods of flare-ups and relative calm. The damage to your joints, however, follows a pattern of three stages: First, the lining of the joints swell, so you'll feel warmth and pain and your joint may appear reddened. Then, the lining will thicken, causing increased pain and stiffness with movement. Finally, enzymes released by the inflamed cells attack the bone and cartilage, eroding it and leaving joints misshapen, misaligned and increasingly painful and difficult to move.
3. Protecting Your Joints
Because of the damage rheumatoid arthritis can cause your joints, you'll have to make some adaptations, so you don't stress them too much---for example, using your forearms to pick up objects. Using a cane may reduce the stress to your ankles when you're out shopping. Physical and occupational therapists can give you more tips, and medical supply catalogs feature a host of labor-saving devices that will help you give your joints the special treatment they deserve.
4. Treatment Options
Joint protection is a good self-management technique, but you will likely need to take some anti-inflammatory medications, especially during flare-ups. Surgery, including joint replacement, tendon repair and removal of inflamed joint linings, are options if the disease affects your daily activities. As always, diet and exercise play a key role. You need to keep your weight down and your spirits up.
5. Taking the Long View
No cure has yet been found for rheumatoid arthritis, which is a systemic disease. The powerful drugs used to treat it can affect not only the joints, but the skin, heart, lungs, digestive tract, kidneys, blood vessels, blood, nervous system or eyes. Life expectancy may be somewhat shorter than for the average population, but only indirectly as a result of complications from the disease. You may be one of approximately half the people in the U.S. with rheumatoid arthritis who have to stop working within 10 to 20 years after the onset of the disease, but early diagnosis and aggressive treatment can help you maintain a functional lifestyle for many years.
