4/16/09

What is Rheumatoid Arthritus?

It just occured to me that some/most of you may have heard about Rheumatoid Arthritus, not a lot of people know what it is. Wellll....

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints, the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body. Because it can affect multiple other organs of the body, rheumatoid arthritis is referred to as a systemic illness and is sometimes called rheumatoid disease.

Symptoms vary from person to person. My RA was in my left knee. Inflammation is usually in both knees or two joints, not just one. My case was very rare seeing as how it was only in my left knee until December of 2008, when it spread into my wrist. My wrist wasn't as inflamed as my knee by any stretch of the imagination, but it felt sprained and I couldn't really twist it. Even opening a doorknob was hard to do.

There are various methods of treatment. Steroids are one option, as well as Sulfur pills. Cortazone shots worked at one point for me, but they're unhealthy if taken more than 3 times in a year.

Click HERE for more information about RA