Some information about rheumatoid arthritis
Dr.Kut | Feb 13, 2010 | Comments 0
According the Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal diseases, it has been predicted that by the year 2020, almost sixty million people all over US will be suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. When you think of something like arthritis, you think of the elder generation, however this disease is common among all ages and this also includes children.
Arthritis, if not treated properly at its early stages, can create havoc in your life leaving you crippled and unable to function normally. One of the most common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis is morning stiffness and therefore you should not ignore these symptoms at all.
However, rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that will not only affect your body, it will also affect your emotional and mental balance, as it affects your whole lifestyle in a very bad manner. There are so many things that we take for granted, and therefore, when we come across problems like arthritis, it becomes very difficult to accept that these things are not possible for us anymore. There is then a big change in our lives and we need to make a lot of adjustments.
Of course, there are a lot of preventive measures that you can take to keep your system away from such kind of depressing diseases. Also, proper treatment at the proper time goes a long way in stopping the disease from becoming severe.
On the first stage, arthritis attacks the muscles and ligaments of the joints and creates inflammation and pain. The symptoms normally appear at several parts of your body at the same time, however, some times the disease is also spreading slowly and you can think that you just had a sprain only.
On the second stage, the disease starts to destroy the ligaments and cartilage that are inflamed and eventually the muscles around the joint areas as well making it very painful for any kind of movement to take place. The worse cases can also experience that the cartilages actually disappear and that becomes a deformation of the body in itself.
Rheumatoid arthritis starts with very similar symptoms as those experienced when you have a muscular or joint injury due to sports or a simple fall, however it is an autoimmune disease that begins to destroy the body gradually. The disease, if not treated will eventually target most of your joints, however the most common parts that experience the beginning of arthritis include the fingers, hips, feet and knees.
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Filed Under: Bones, Joints and Muscles
