Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and autoimmune inflammatory disease that mainly affects the joints –which become inflamed–, although it can manifest itself in practically any organ , “be it heart, kidney, lung, blood cells …”, points out José Mª Pego Reigosa, rheumatologist at the Vigo University Hospital Complex and coordinator of the Autoimmune Diseases Working Group of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (SER). It is therefore a systemic disease.
Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s tissues , usually damaging the smallest joints first, especially those that join the fingers with the hands, and the toes with the feet. It should not be confused with osteoarthritis, in which the articular cartilage (the tissue that covers the bone and acts as a shock absorber) wears away; in the case of arthritis, a chronic inflammation of the synovium occurs (something like the “bag” that lines the joint).
The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are usually related to tenderness in the joints when palpating them, as well as finding them hot and swollen, but there are also cases of joint stiffness, fatigue, fever and lack of appetite .
Risk factor’s
- Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that, like lupus, affects women to a greater extent.
- It is usually diagnosed between the ages of thirty and fifty. In Spain, this ailment affects 1.07% of the population.
- If someone in the family has rheumatoid arthritis, you have a greater chance of developing the disease.
- Smoking also increases the risk of contracting the disease, especially if you have a genetic predisposition. In addition, this harmful habit seems to be associated with more severe arthritis.
- Being overweight seems to increase the risk of developing the disease.
Rheumatoid arthritis treatment
Regarding the treatments, “the truth is that they have improved a lot in recent years, and, day after day, the therapeutic arsenal continues to grow , as well as the number of new molecules that are effective in clinical trials”, points out the Dr. Pego, who insists that thanks to all this life expectancy “has practically equaled that of the rest of the population.” However, the arthritis patient must assume certain healthy lifestyle habits: “Among them, exercise physical, a varied diet rich in calcium and ensure adequate levels of vitamin D to counteract the adverse effect of certain drugs . ”Finally, the expert highlights that rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatological diseases, such as lupus, increase“ cardiovascular risk , regardless of the previous factors ”, so that adequately controlling these ailments entails a reduction in the risk of suffering from heart disease as well.
In recent decades, much progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, that is, about which molecules mediate inflammation and which should be blocked in order to treat it. At the moment, it is known that there are “a couple of antibodies that are associated with the disease and a worse prognosis, and they are known as rheumatoid factor antibodies and anti-citrullinated cyclic peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies.” On the other hand, other factors that predict how severe the disease will be have also been identified, such as the number of joints affected at the beginning and radiological manifestations.
