Rheumatoid Arthritis

When it’s working properly, your immune system protects your body from infection and disease. When people have autoimmune diseases — including rheumatoid arthritis — their immune system attacks their own body by mistake.

In rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that mostly affects the hands, wrists and knees, your immune system damages healthy tissue inside the joints. This can cause pain, inflammation and even deformity.

A variety of treatments can help provide relief for your symptoms.

Symptoms

Common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include:

• Fatigue
• Loss of function in the joint
• Pain or stiffness in more than one joint

Treatments

Rheumatoid arthritis has no cure; however, options are available to help manage pain and improve quality of life. Many people with rheumatoid arthritis continue with life as normal once the disease is controlled.

Rheumatoid arthritis is typically treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and other medicines that affect the immune system, such as biologic therapy. These medications are important in helping control joint inflammation and prevent joint damage. Additional therapies that can be helpful include anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy and healthy lifestyle changes.