Archive for January, 2011

Rheumatoid arthritis is considered to be an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disorder means that one's body is having an immune response to its own cells. Rheumatoid arthritis, like other forms of arthritis manifests in the joints, appearing as chronic inflammation and pain. It can attack people of all ages and there is no sure-fire cure. It can be handled with medication and helped with surgery. The hand and wrist region have multitudes of tiny joints in it. The hands are relied upon to perform constant intricate maneuvers that one tends to take for granted as long as everything is working well and is pain free. Writing, cooking, working in the garden, to name just a few tasks; require much [...]

Chronic inflammatory disease that causes joint swelling, pain and stiffness is called rheumatoid arthritis also known as RA. Do not confuse RA with another form of arthritis known as osteoarthritis. RA is caused by an autoimmune disorder where as osteoarthritis is due to the wear and tear we put on our joints as we age. It is important to understand that rheumatoid arthritis is caused by our immune system attacking cells in our joints that are not invaders, but are seen as such by the immune system. This is why it is called an autoimmune disease, it simply means that our body is attacking itself. There is no cure for arthritis, but there are treatments that you can use to alleviate the pain [...]

There are many small joints present in hand and wrist, which function together to produce motion. These joints are essential to perform most of our day-to-day activities like threading a needle or tying a shoelace. It would be very difficult to perform our daily activities if these joints are affected by arthritis. Arthritis can affect various parts of the hand and wrist. There are multiple causes, which develop arthritis in hand. Recent research reveals that one out of every five individuals live in the United States has not less than a joint with the signs or symptoms of arthritis. Nearly 50 percent of the arthritis sufferers are under age of 50 years. It is the major cause of impairment in [...]

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease that affects millions of individuals around the world every year. Many RA sufferers express pain, not only in the smaller joints of the hands and feet, but neck pain, back pain, and even sciatica in severe manifestations. Approximately one per cent of the world's population, one in ten thousand individuals, are affected by rheumatoid arthritis. There appears to be a significant, gender-based difference, with three to five times as many women as men presenting with symptoms. Interestingly, smokers appear to be at significantly greater risk than non-smokers, up to four times as many smokers as non-smokers exhibit the disorder, although the reasons for this [...]

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory joint disease (Autoimmune disease) that is characterised by daily pain, stiffness and fatigue which, in turn, limits activities of daily living. Rheumatoid arthritis, a crippling disease that affects approximately 2-3% of the world's population, and usually starts between the ages of 20-40 years and is more common in women, affecting them 3 times more often than men. Some forms of the disease can occur in children. Rheumatoid arthritis affects about 1 percent of our population and at least two million Americans have definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis. It is a much more devastating illness than previously appreciated. Rheumatoid arthritis [...]