Rheumatoid Arthritis, also known as “RA” is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack the joints. It is a disabling and painful inflammatory condition, which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and muscles.
The symptoms that distinguish Rheumatoid Arthritis from other forms of arthritis are inflammation and soft-tissue swelling of many joints at the same time, also known as polyarthritis. The joints are usually affected initially asymmetrically and then in a symmetrical fashion as the disease progresses. The pain generally improves with use of the affected joints, and there is usually stiffness of all joints in the morning that lasts over 1 hour. Thus, the pain of rheumatoid arthritis is usually worse in the morning compared to the classic pain of osteoarthritis where the pain worsens over the day as the joints are used.
As Rheumatoid Arthritis progresses the inflammatory activity leads to erosion and destruction of...