Rheumatoid Arthritis Causes and Diagnosis
Arthritis is the term used for over 100 rheumatoid and joint related diseases, with the most common being Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. The word arthritis refers to “joint inflammation” and rheumatoid arthritis is actually an attack on the immune system where the system turns on itself and attacks the joints.
The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis affect each person differently but in general have the same affects. Rheumatoid arthritis is a symmetrical pattern disease, which means that if one side of the body if affected, the other side is affected at the same time as well. Joint tenderness, swelling and stiffness can last for more then an hour after a long rest period and in the mornings as well, in some cases, rheumatoid arthritis symptoms can last for an extended period. Malaise is the most common symptom of this disease; it is a general feeling of fatigue and can have a persistent fever with an overall sense of not feeling well.
With rheumatoid arthritis, something seems to trigger the immune system to attack itself. This could happen after a sudden trauma or a surgery, and the severity is not the same in all people. Some theories suggest that a virus or bacteria alter the immune system. Therefore, since the root cause of rheumatoid arthritis is so different from osteoarthritis, of course the treatment and remedies are different also.
No one is positive on the exact cause of why people get rheumatoid arthritis, but many scientists believe there are a lot of common factors among the people that suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Hereditary and genetics is a major contribution to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the particular genes that are passed from one family member to next.
Some of the criteria used to diagnosis rheumatoid arthritis is morning stiffness of more than one hour of most mornings for at least six weeks, arthritis and soft-tissue swelling of at least three out of fourteen joints and arthritis of the hand joints. There is no known cure for rheumatoid arthritis. Many types of treatments have been used to ease the symptoms. Some of the more common ones are acupuncture, apple diet, nutmeg, nettles, prayer, bee venom and pollen, copper bracelets, rhubarb diet, rest, honey, fasting, magnets, vitamins and cortisone therapy.
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