Rheumatoid arthritis results from the inflammation of the synovial membranes.

Damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis can lead to a replacement of damaged joints.

Rheumatoid Arthritis can effect people of any age, However more older people suffer with it then younger.

It is also more likely to affect women then men and hits at about age 35 and beyond However even toddlers can be afflicted with it

Rheumatoid lung disease is a group of lung problems related to rheumatoid arthritis. The condition can include fluid in the chest (pleural effusions), scarring (pulmonary fibrosis), lumps (nodules), and high blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension).

Lung disease - rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatoid nodules

Pulmonary abnormalities are common in rheumatoid arthritis, but they often cause no symptoms. The causes of lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis are unknown. Sometimes the medicines used to treat rheumatoid arthritis may result in lung disease.

• Shortness of breath
• Cough
• Chest pain
• Fever

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease include the following:

• Joint swelling
• Joint stiffness
• Joint pain
• Skin nodules

The doctor may hear crackles when listening to the lungs with a stethoscope (auscultation). Or, the patient may have decreased breath sounds, a rubbing sound, or normal breath sounds.

The following tests may show problems consistent with rheumatoid lung disease:

• Chest x-ray
• CT scan of the chest
• Echocardiogram(may show pulmonary hypertension)
• Needle inserted into the fluid around the lung (thoracentesis)
• Bronchoscopic, video-assisted, or open lung biopsy

Many people with this condition have no symptoms. Therefore, therapies are aimed at treating the underlying disorder and complications resulting from the disorder. Corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive therapies are sometimes useful.

The outcome is related to the underlying disorder and the type and severity of lung disease.

• Pneumothorax
• Pulmonary hypertension

Call your health care provider PROMPTLY if you have rheumatoid arthritis and you develop unexplained breathing difficulties.

Strange C, Highland KB. Interstitial lung disease in the patient who has connective tissue disease. Clin Chest Med. September 2004;25:549-559.

Zrour SH, Touzi M, Bejia I, et al. Correlations between high-resolution computed tomography of the chest and clinical function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Prospective study in 75 patients. Joint Bone Spine. January 2005;72:41-47.

Rheumatoid factor (RF) is a blood test that measures the amount of the RF antibodyin the blood.

Blood is drawn from a vein, usually from the inside of the elbow or the back of the hand. The site is cleaned with germ-killing medicine (antiseptic). The health care provider wraps an elastic band around the upper arm to apply pressure to the area and make the vein swell with blood.

Next, the health care provider gently inserts a needle into the vein. The blood collects into an airtight vial or tube attached to the needle. The elastic band is removed from your arm.

Once the blood has been collected, the needle is removed, and the puncture site is covered to stop any bleeding.

In infants or young children, a sharp tool called a lancet may be used to puncture the skin and make it bleed. The blood collects into a small glass tube called a pipette, or onto a slide or test strip. A bandage may be placed over the area if there is any bleeding.

No special preparation is usually necessary.

When the needle is inserted to draw blood, some people feel moderate pain, while others feel only a prick or stinging sensation. Afterward, there may be some throbbing.

This test is most often used to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis or Sjogren syndrome. About 80% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and almost all patients with Sjogren syndrome have positive RF tests.

It may also be used to rule out or diagnose other inflammation-related conditions.

Results are usually reported in one of two ways:

• Less than 40-60 u/mL
• Less than 1:80 (1 to 80) titer

A low number (normal result) usually means you do not have rheumatoid arthritis or Sjogren syndrome. However, some people who do have these conditions still have a "normal" or low rheumatoid factor (RF).

Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.

High levels of rheumatoid factor, especially in people who have symptoms, can help diagnose rheumatoid arthritis or Sjogren syndrome. The higher the level reported, the more likely one of these conditions is present.

People with these autoimmune diseases may also have higher levels of rheumatoid factor:

• Scleroderma
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Adult Still's disease
• Dermatomyositis
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
• Sarcoidosis

Many other medical problems and infections may cause higher-than-normal levels of RF. However, RF is not used to diagnose these problems:

• AIDS, hepatitis, influenza, infectious mononucleosis, and other viral infections
• Endocarditis, tuberculosis, and other bacterial infections
• Parasite infections
• Leukemia, multiple myeloma, and other cancers
• Chronic lung disease
• Chronic liver diseases
• Nephrotic syndrome

Sometimes, people who are healthy and have no other medical problem will have a higher-than-normal RF level.

Veins and arteries vary in size from one patient to another and from one side of the body to the other. Obtaining a blood sample from some people may be more difficult than from others.

Other risks associated with having blood drawn are slight but may include:

• Excessive bleeding
• Fainting or feeling light-headed
• Hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin)
• Infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken)

The RF test can be positive in some healthy people.

Goodyear CS, Tighe H, McInnes IB. Rheumatoid factors and other autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis. In: Firestein GS, Budd RC, Harris Jr. ED, McInnes IB, Ruddy S, eds. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: W.B. Saunders Company;2008:chap 51.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that affects about one percent of the global population. Rheumatoid arthritis, abbreviated RA, is an inflammatory disorder that develops because the body’s immune system overreacts and attacks the joints, causing chronic pain and inflammation. This classifies rheumatoid arthritis as a systemic autoimmune disease. RA is often a crippling disease that must be clinically diagnosed, most commonly by having X-rays and physical examinations performed. Once diagnosed, treatment of the disease is usually performed by rheumatologist—a doctor that specializes in auto-immune diseases.

Rheumatoid arthritis causes joint inflammation and the inflammation of synovial membranes, which line all the tendons. This inflammation causes every joint to swell and stiffen up as the day goes on. Having chronically inflamed joints will result in every movement of those joints to cause pain. The joints in the hands, feet and spinal cord are most severely affected by this horrible disease, and the knees, shoulders and elbows are also affected in patients with a more advanced form of RA.

There are various treatment options available, once a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis has been confirmed. The most common treatment options included physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications and nutritional therapy. Pain killers are also necessary to treat the sever levels of chronic pain that rheumatoid arthritis causes. Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are required in order to prevent the long-term damage of patient’s joints. These drugs work by slowing down the body’s natural immune functionality.

Rheumatoid arthritis can be a very costly disease, due to how many prescription drugs are necessary to treat the illness. There is no cure for this disease, so all modern medicine can do is help patients cope with it by managing the levels of pain. In order to avoid spending a fortune on prescription medications a good prescription drug program should be purchases. Patients with health insurance will also avoid many out of pocket medical expenses, which will add up fast over the course of a patient’s life. Getting the most out of physical and nutritional therapy can greatly reduce a patient’s dependency on prescription drugs. Keeping the joints flexible is the main goal for patients, because patients tend to experience increased pain levels as the joints become less mobile.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term disease that leads to inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues. It can also affect other organs.

RA; Arthritis - rheumatoid

The cause of RA is unknown. It is considered an autoimmune disease. The body's immune system normally fights off foreign substances, like viruses. But in an autoimmune disease, the immune system confuses healthy tissue for foreign substances. As a result, the body attacks itself.

RA can occur at any age. Women are affected more often than men.

RA usually affects joints on both sides of the body equally. Wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles are the most commonly affected. The course and the severity of the illness can vary considerably. Infection, genes, and hormones may contribute to the disease.

The disease often begins slowly, with symptoms that are seen in many other illnesses:

• Fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Low fever
• Swollen glands
• Weakness

Eventually, joint pain appears.

• Morning stiffness, which lasts more than 1 hour, is common. Joints can even become warm, tender, and stiff when not used for as little as an hour.
• Joint pain is often felt on both sides of the body.
• The fingers (but not the fingertips), wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, toes, jaw, and neck may be affected.
• The joints are often swollen and feel warm and boggy (or spongy) to the touch.
• Over time, joints lose their range of motion and may become deformed.

Other symptoms include:

• Chest pains when taking a breath (pleurisy)
• Eye burning, itching, and discharge
• Nodules under the skin (usually a sign of more severe disease)
• Numbness, tingling, or burning in the hands and feet

Joint destruction may occur within 1-2 years after the disease appears.

A specific blood test is available for diagnosing RA and distinguishing it from other types of arthritis. It is called the anti-CCP antibody test. Other tests that may be done include:

• Complete blood count
• C-reactive protein
• Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
• Joint ultrasound or MRI
• Joint x-rays
• Rheumatoid factor test (positive in about 75% of people with symptoms)
• Synovial fluid analysis

Regular blood or urine tests should be done to determine how well medications are working and whether drugs are causing any side effects.

RA usually requires lifelong treatment, including medications, physical therapy, exercise, education, and possibly surgery. Early, aggressive treatment for RA can delay joint destruction.

MEDICATIONS

Disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs): These drugs are the current standard of care for RA, in addition to rest, strengthening exercises, and anti-inflammatory drugs.

• Methotrexate (Rheumatrex) is the most commonly used DMARD for rheumatoid arthritis. Leflunomide (Arava) may be substituted for methotrexate.
• These drugs may have serious side effects, so you will need frequent blood tests when taking them.

Anti-inflammatory medications: These include aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen.

• Although NSAIDs work well, long-term use can cause stomach problems, such as ulcers and bleeding, and possible heart problems.
• Celecoxib (Celebrex) is another anti-inflammatory drug, but it is labeled with strong warnings about heart disease and stroke. Talk to your doctor about whether COX-2 inhibitors are right for you.

Antimalarial medications: This group of medicines includes hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) and sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), and is usually used along with methotrexate. It may be weeks or months before you see any benefit from these medications.

Corticosteroids: These medications work very well to reduce joint swelling and inflammation. Because of long-term side effects, corticosteroids should be taken only for a short time and in low doses when possible.

BIOLOGIC AGENTS:

Biologic drugs are designed to affect parts of the immune system that play a role in the disease process of rheumatoid arthritis.

They may be given when other medicines for rheumatoid arthritis have not worked. At times, your doctor will start biologic drugs sooner, along with other rheumatoid arthritis drugs.

Most of them are given either under the skin (subcutaneously) or into a vein (intravenously). There are different types of biologic agents:

• White blood cell modulators include: abatacept (Orencia) and rituximab (Rituxan)
• Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors include: adalimumab (Humira), etanercept (Enbrel), infliximab (Remicade), golimumab (Simponi), and certolizumab (Cimzia)
• Interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitors: tocilizumab (Actemra)

Biologic agents can be very helpful in treating rheumatoid arthritis. However, people taking these drugs must be watched very closely because of serious risk factors:

• Infections from bacteria, viruses, and fungi
• Leukemia
• Possibly psoriasis

SURGERY

Occasionally, surgery is needed to correct severely affected joints. Surgeries can relieve joint pain and deformities.

The first surgical treatment may be a synovectomy, which is the removal of the joint lining (synovium).

At some point, total joint replacement is needed. In extreme cases, total knee, hip replacement, ankle replacement, shoulder replacement, and others may be done. These surgeries can mean the difference between being totally dependent on others and having an independent life at home.

PHYSICAL THERAPY

Range-of-motion exercises and exercise programs prescribed by a physical therapist can delay the loss of joint function.

Joint protection techniques, heat and cold treatments, and splints or orthotic devices to support and align joints may be very helpful.

Sometimes therapists will use special machines to apply deep heat or electrical stimulation to reduce pain and improve joint mobility.

Occupational therapists can create splints for the hand and wrist, and teach how to best protect and use joints when they are affected by arthritis. They also show people how to better cope with day-to-day tasks at work and at home, despite limitations caused by RA.

Frequent rest periods between activities, as well as 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night, are recommended.

For additional information and resources, see arthritis support group.

The course of rheumatoid arthritis differs from person to person. For some patients, the disease becomes less aggressive over time and symptoms may improve.

Other people develop a more severe form of the disease.

People with rheumatoid factor, the anti-CCP antibody, or subcutaneous nodules seem to have a more severe form of the disease. People who develop RA at younger ages also seem to get worse more quickly.

Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis has improved. Many people with RA work full-time. However, after many years, about 10% of those with RA are severely disabled, and unable to do simple daily living tasks such as washing, dressing, and eating.

Rheumatoid arthritis is not only a disease of joint destruction. It can involve almost all organs.

Problems that may occur include:

• Anemia due to failure of the bone marrow to produce enough new red blood cells
• Damage to the lung tissue (rheumatoid lung)
• Injury to the spinal cord when the cervical spine (neck bones) becomes unstable as a result of RA
• Rheumatoid vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels), which can lead to skin ulcers and infections, bleeding stomach ulcers, and nerve problems that cause pain, numbness, or tingling. Vasculitis may also affect the brain, nerves, and heart, which can cause stroke, heart attack, or heart failure.
• Swelling and inflammation of the outer lining of the heart (pericarditis) and of the heart muscle (myocarditis). Both of these conditions can lead to congestive heart failure.
• Sjogren syndrome

The treatments for RA can also cause serious side effects. If you experience any side effects, immediately tell your health care provider.

Call your health care provider if you think you have symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis has no known prevention. However, it is often possible to prevent further damage to the joints with proper early treatment.

Yazici Y. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: we are getting there. Lancet. 2009;374:178-180. Epub 2009 Jun 26.

Deighton C, O'Mahony R, Tosh J, Turner C, Rudolf M; Guideline Development Group. Management of rheumatoid arthritis: summary of NICE guidelines. BMJ. 2009;338:b702. doi: 10.1136/bmj/b702.

Harris ED Jr, Firestein GS. Clinical features of rheumatoid arthritis. In: Firestein GS, Budd RC, Harris ED Jr, et al, eds. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier;2008:chap 66.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory joint disease that affects millions of adults, usually appearing between the ages of 40 and 60. While this affliction can present in dozens of different ways and requires a professional physician to properly diagnose, there are several symptoms that occur in most patients at some point in the diseases' progression. Men and women suffering from the symptoms described in this guide may find that rheumatoid arthritis is the culprit.

The earliest indications of RA often include difficulty in performing small or precise movements with ones' hands and wrists. Older adults may notice their hands feeling clumsy when attempting even simple tasks, such as opening jars or tying shoes. Pain and soreness in the hands and feet, especially in the morning hours, are another sign that joints are strained. Joints may also appear red, swollen or tender to the touch.

As RA progresses, pain and stiffness become more severe; increased inflammation damages tissues and bone, reducing flexibility and increasing irritation in affected joints. Further complications can develop as inflammation spreads to larger organs, causing dryness of the eyes and mouth, chest pains, trouble breathing, pinched nerves and rheumatoid nodules (lumps beneath the skin at frequently moving joints).

It is important to realize that rheumatoid arthritis does not usually produce a continuous display of symptoms, making it easy to incorrectly identify certain effects as having non-chronic origins. RA can lie dormant for years in between episodes of inflammation, known as "flares"; treatment is still recommended to slow the degenerative process of RA even when patients are not experiencing active symptoms.

While rheumatoid arthritis is a common and potentially debilitating condition, with proper attention to the symptoms described here it is possible to diagnose and treat RA early on in the diseases' progression, ensuring the least possible damage to joints, muscles and bones.

No, Rheumatoid arthritis is not contagious.

You may have RA even though you don't have rheumatoid factor. In this case it is referred to as seronegative rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid factor (RF or RhF) is an antibody that attacs an organism's own tissue. omos often found in About 80% of people with rheumatoid arthritis have detectable rheumatoid factor. Those who do not are said to be "seronegative".

Rheumatoid factor can also be a (antibody that precipitates on cooling of a blood sample); it can be either type 2 (monoclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG) or 3 (polyclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG)

Rheumatoid Vasculitis is most likely to occur in people that have suffered from severe RA for at 10 years.

Rheumatoid Vasculitis (RV) happens with of longstanding, severe rheumatoid arthritis. The active vasculitis associated with rheumatoid disease occurs in about 1% of this patient population.

People with vasculitis usually have many joints with pain and swelling, rheumatoid nodules, high concentrations of rheumatoid factor.

A rheumatoid factor over 23 units and a titer over 1:80 indicates rheumatoid arthritis, However this may also occur in other conditions.

False positive results can occur when the blood is high in fats.

A negative test result for rheumatoid factor does not exclude the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Yes you can, This is called Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis and even baby's can have serious problems with it.

Rheumatoid Vasculitis (RV) is one of the unusual complication of longstanding, severe rheumatoid arthritis. The active vasculitis associated with rheumatoid disease occurs in about 1% of this patient population. Nerve damage can cause foot or wrist drop, "mononeuritis multiplex".

My guess is that you read the term for seronagative Rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a immune disorder that usually exhibits itself in several joints of the body at the same time, (often the same joints on opposite sides of the body). When it is suspected that Rheumatoid arthritis is the culprit one of the blood tests that is done is one for Rheumatoid factor (RF) most of the people that have RA also have a high RF, However in about 20% of cases there is no RF and this is Known as seronegative Rheumatoid arthritis.

Yes You can have Rheumatoid arthritis with no RF at all. In that case it is referred to as seronegative RA,

They don't as far as we know, The cause Of rheumatoid arthritis is still not known.

rheumatoid factor is a particular type of antibody that is found in about 80% of people have Rheumatoid arthritis as well as with other inflammatory illnesses. A negative RF simply means there is no RF in the blood.

For more info on this subject go to the associated link below (HISTORY of RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS RESEARCH)

We don't know, at this point in time we do not yet know the cause of Rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis ,muscular dystrophy and chondrodynia.