How To Deal With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Getting diagnosed for an autoimmune condition can be quite devastating news, as in the past, this meant that the doctors could do nothing to help you. Luckily, with a lot of technological and medical advancements in the past few years, there are viable treatment options for some autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

What is an autoimmune condition?

For a normal person, the role of their immune system will fight off foreign elements like infections in order to keep the body healthy. However, for people with an autoimmune disease, things get a bit complicated, as the immune system starts attacking their own healthy cells.

What are symptoms for rheumatoid arthritis?

Autoimmune diseases do not necessarily attack all of the healthy cells in the body, and in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, there some specific cells that will get attacked. The most common areas are the small joints, such as hands and feet, however, in some rare cases, the larger joints like knees and hips might be affected.

Besides the swelling, pain, and tenderness to the touch of joints, patients will also experience stiffness in their joints in the morning, or after they have rested for a couple of hours during the day. Characteristic for rheumatoid arthritis is that the pain in the joints is symmetric, which means that the same joints are affected on both sides of the body.

Difference between healthy and unhealthy joints

How is it diagnosed?

Unfortunately, even the best rheumatologist in Brisbane from arthritisCARE do not know the cause of this condition, but that does not necessarily mean that it is impossible to diagnose. rheumatologist port charlotte fl will make you go through a couple of tests. Blood tests will determine if there is some kind of inflammation, and they will also be able to tell if there are antibodies as well as the rheumatoid factor.

It can sometimes be a bit difficult to diagnose this condition, and it can also take time because rheumatoid arthritis shares symptoms with many other types of arthritis. In case your doctor suspects that you are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, you will be referred to a rheumatologist, a specialist for arthritis.

What is the treatment?

Since there is no cure, the treatment is the only viable option, and it will allow the person to live a much better life. The treatment was not that effective in the beginning, but over the last twenty years, the progress has been magnificent, and new medication can greatly improve the condition of the patient.

When it comes to the rheumatoid arthritis medications in Brisbane at arthritisCARE, you will be given some of the most common medication that treats the symptoms. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs are the most common options, along with some corticosteroid medicines and injections.

Joint pain can become quite discomfortable

Final word

If you are diagnosed with this condition, do not worry, as the treatment can truly help. If you are diagnosed earlier in life, who knows, a cure for this condition may be discovered in the years to come, or at least we can only hope so.