...Human NutritionProfessor Chitra Wendakoon | Rheumatoid Arthritis | By Daniel Schramm | Schramm 2/24/2013 | What is Rheumatoid Arthritis? Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease that we do not get from a virus or human contact. The disease is our own body’s immune system turned against its self. Your immune system is an assembly of cells and organs intended to safeguard your body from external intruders. Your structure comprises the spleen, lymph nodes, tonsils, bone marrow and white blood cells. All these work collectively to fight off germs and infections that can harm you or make you sick. When your immune system is not working properly, it sees your own body as an enemy which it attacks, therefore generating a potential illness with an auto immune disease such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). There are several types of auto immune diseases that can upset the body; more notably, the heart, lungs kidneys, brain as well as the joints. Since the 1930′s researchers have been exploring the link between diet and arthritis. We continue to hear claims that special diets, foods and supplements may help to cure or alleviate symptoms of arthritis, but most claims are unproven. Many experts speculate that claims of nutritional remedies and cures with food or dietary supplements are related to the “placebo affect”. The placebo effect is the patient’s perception of improved symptoms and well-being, resulting from new therapy, regardless of evidence for actual...
Words: 1986 - Pages: 8
...as the “wear and tear” arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis (Shiel, 2014). Many believe that the treatment of arthritis is limited to splinting, applying cold packs, and anti-inflammatory medications, but there is another type of treatment on the rise that can include multiple additional benefits on top of relieving pain; incorporating exercise into the daily lives of those with arthritis. With unique exercise...
Words: 1061 - Pages: 5
...Rheumatoid Arthritis or “RA” is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system mistakenly attacks its own body tissues. This disease affects the lining of joints causing pain and swelling. Eventually the swelling can lead to bone erosion and joint deformity. RA can happen to anyone at any age, but the majority of people who have to endure this disease are women over the age of 40. Pathophysiology Rheumatoid Arthritis is a joint attacking disease, but RA can attack any organ in the body. There is no unique test to diagnose RA, doctors look at signs and symptoms of the patient. Infectious agents have long been suspected as potential triggers of RA. Some external triggers, such as smoking, infection, or trauma could even affect the joints. Even though the cause of RA is unknown, these triggers may be a slight cause when diagnosing RA. Ultimately, inflammation and exuberant proliferation of the synovium leads to destruction of various tissues, including cartilage, bone, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Destruction of these lead to very painful joints. Clinical Manifestation Since there is no test to diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis, doctors look at signs and symptoms. They usually include fatigue, malaise, generalized stiffness, and generalized arthralgias or myalgias. (Rheumatoid Arthritis. Mayo Clinic Staff. (2014, October 14). Patients often complain of morning stiffness when having RA. This stiffness can also be called, gelling. The severity of symptoms can vary from...
Words: 660 - Pages: 3
...JUVENILE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Kevin Weller Kaplan University College Composition II CM220 Prof: Diana Gerow August 26, 2012 JUVENILE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS There is currently no known cause and no cure for Juvenile Arthritis, so it is my goal to raise awareness for those in the community that are not aware that children can get arthritis. Many people believe that arthritis only affects older people or those who have worked hard and abused their body over many years. Children still need support to remain active to try and beat the pain and stiffness they are dealing with daily and the community is also important to help support the efforts to find a cure and help those currently impacted with the disease. Juvenile arthritis affects children under the age of 16. JRA can show up overnight and blood tests cannot determine if a child has arthritis. There is currently no cause or cure for this disease that affects 50,000 children in the United States. JRA is often misunderstood or mistaken for other conditions, and thus parents need to learn the signs of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, how to find appropriate medical intervention, and what best practices they can use at home. Juvenile Arthritis is an inflammatory condition that develops in children ages 16 years and younger. Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis is the most common type and there is no known cause although hereditary seems to play a part. Arthritis affects approximately 1 out of every 100,000 children mildly and...
Words: 939 - Pages: 4
...rid of arthritis symptoms and arthritis pain forever and it's not taking drugs. Arthritis sufferers today are continually seeking relief from their arthritis pain. There are more than one hundred different types of medical conditions that can affect your joints and mimic arthritis symptoms; it will be difficult to undergo treatment for your condition effectively unless you know exactly what your diagnosis is; make sure to get diagnosed so you know for sure that you have arthritis and what type you have. A good first step when looking for solutions to an arthritis pain problem is to fully understand how arthritis works. In osteoarthritis, any one or more of the affected joints experience a progressive loss of cartilage,...
Words: 889 - Pages: 4
...Rheumatoid Arthritis Gregory Alfonso Biology 115 Dr. Rebecca Coleman Friday, July 19, 2013 Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that results in a chronic inflammatory of joints within the body. (CDC) RA is characterized by synovial inflammation and hyperplasia autoantibody production swell to the point that they begin to destroy cartilage and bone structures. This is what causes the skeletal deformation in some patients of RA but not all. Other Symptoms include morning stiffness that can last for several hours my mother has complained about this several times and fatigue, fever and weight loss. (Mayo Clinic) RA can happen to anyone at any age this is one of the common misconception of the disease because when it first started showing up the assumption was that it was an old person disease. There are estimates that there are in 1995-2007, 41 per 100,000 people were diagnosed with RA each year. Incidence rose with age (e.g., 8.7 per 100,000 people among those aged 18-34 compared with 54 per 100,000 among those aged ≥ 85 years); incidence peaked among people aged 65-74 years (89 per 100,000) (all estimates age-adjusted to 2000 US population). From 1995 to 2007, rates increased by 2.5% each year among women but there was a small decrease (0.5%) among men. (Myasoedova, Crowson, Kremers, Therneau, and Gabriel 1) While one study from the Rochester Epidemiology Project that there have been declines in...
Words: 1467 - Pages: 6
...Abstract Since joint destruction begins within a few weeks of symptom onset in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to decrease impairment of physical function and halt disease progression. A delay in therapy of as little as 3 months has demonstrated to cause irreversible joint damage. Treatment plans for RA includes pharmacological as well as non-pharmacological modalities. Treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have involved a variety of single agent and combination therapies with a goal, to slow disease progression and bone destruction. The research indicates that not all drug combinations are equally effective in all patients with RA. To more accurately distinguish how to best manage early RA, and because treating RA within 3 months of diagnosis appears crucial for improved outcomes, this paper review studies that compare combination to mono-therapies in RA. Introduction Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is considered to be an inflammatory arthritis (Gardner, 2010). It is a disease that is chronic and characterized by diffuse inflammation and degeneration of the connective tissues, often characterized by joint stiffness in the morning that lasts at least 30 minutes but can range to several hours (Gardner, 2010). Pain improves with activity as fluid accumulated in the joints during inactivity is forced back into the system through the lymphatics. RA has a different cause from Osteoarthritis (OA). It is considered to be...
Words: 1526 - Pages: 7
...Chronic Arthritis in the Elderly Management 6/1/2013 By: Kendra Chapman Topic: Management of Chronic Arthritis in the Elderly University Of Phoenix HCA/220 Date: June 1, 2013 By: Kendra When reading this article on the Management of Chronic Arthritis in the elderly I found that when you hit the half way mark that arthritis is one of the main diseases that they might have to face and is also one of the number one causes that concerns the elderly. Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints. A joint is the area where two bones meet. It affects the musculoskeletal system, especially the joints and it is the main cause of disability among people over fifty-five years of age in the industrialized countries. There also can be causes of chronic pain; advanced age increases the risk of certain health disorders that causes chronic pain. For older adults who live independently chronic pain can have devastating and wide-spread effects, threating the quality of life, imposing steep economics and social costs and also leading to personal strain. Compliance with drug therapy can be a challenge. Many elderly mistakenly think they should take analgesics only when pain becomes unbearable, and some fear they will become addicted to them. But the emphasize the importance of taking pain medication to keep ahead of pain rather than waiting until the pain becomes unbearable. When they use Nonpharmacologic pain management they become more open to using this method to manage...
Words: 461 - Pages: 2
...Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune condition, is a chronic inflammatory poly-arthritis (involves 5 or more joints). It causes premature mortality, disability, and compromised quality of life in the industrialized and developing world. Although the causes are unknown, RA is believed to be the result of a faulty immune response. RA can begin at any age and is associated with fatigue and prolonged stiffness after rest. There is no cure for RA, but new effective drugs are increasingly available to treat the disease and prevent deformed joints. In addition to medications and surgery, good self-management, including exercise, are known to reduce pain and disability. The natural history of RA varies considerably with at least 3 possible disease courses: 1. Monocyclic- One episode which ends within 2.5 years of initial diagnosis and did not re-occur. This may result form early diagnosis and/or aggressive treatment. 2. Polycyclic- The levels of disease activity fluctuate over the course of the condition. 3. Progressive- RA continues to increase in severity and is unremitting. EPIDEMIOLOGY The prevalence rate for RA is 1 % with women affected 3x more often than men and it can first develop at any age, although the onset is uncommon under the age of 15. The risk of first developing the disease appears to be greatest for women between 40 and 50 years of age and for men somewhat later. The incidence of RA is in the region of 3 cases per 10,000 people annually....
Words: 1278 - Pages: 6
...Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder. This autoimmune disorder causes the immune system in your body to attack the tissues around the lined synovial membrane of your joints. Currently, there is no known cause of rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers are trying to determine if one’s genes, environmental factors, or a specific virus or bacteria causes rheumatoid arthritis. A person can have certain symptoms that can lead to a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Two of the common symptoms are the one’s joints are swollen and are stiff throughout the day. Bumps under one’s skin, in which the bump is actually tissue, is also another common symptom. Fatigue, fever, and weight loss are three other symptoms that people with rheumatoid arthritis have, but the patients do not always associate those symptoms with having rheumatoid arthritis. Even though there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, there are several medications that can be taken to help alleviate the symptoms....
Words: 436 - Pages: 2
...According to the CDC, arthritis affects over 52 million American adults, with an estimated 67 million projected to have activity limitations by the year 2030 (CDC, 2015, para. 2). Arthritis the inflammation of one or more joints, resulting in symptoms that include stiffness and joint pain that often worsen with age. “Arthritis” is the general time for a musculoskeletal ailment, but there exist several types of arthritic conditions. Of these, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune form of the disease associated with progressive disability, systemic complications, early death, and socioeconomic costs (McInnes & Schett, 2011, p. 2205). The purpose of this discussion is to provide a disease process and management overview of rheumatoid...
Words: 1353 - Pages: 6
...Interesting Facts About Hip Arthritis Or, Did You Know These Facts About Hip Arthritis Or, Some Facts About Hip Arthritis Summary: Nowadays, hip arthritis has become a common problem for many people, especially the ones who are over the age of 50. Arthritis is a joint problem that can affect any joint in the body such as the hips. It’s important to visit an experienced hip specialist to get proper treatment. Main Content: As our age progresses, we start developing different types of health issues. One such health problem is known as hip arthritis. Do you know that an individual experiencing arthritis will experience the ill effects of a condition known as osteoarthritis? This is a typical type of hip arthritis that’s additionally known as wear & tear arthritis and once in a while even degenerative joint illness. This is a type of joint pain that...
Words: 545 - Pages: 3
...About 1.3 million people in the U.S., have rheumatoid arthritis (Mann). Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects many joints, including the hands and feet. Over time, the inflammation may cause bone erosion and even joint deformity. Once diagnosed, people may experience stiffness, swelling, and even tenderness. As people age there are many chronic diseases that can be diagnosed. This one in particular is normally due to smoking and even over exercising (Warner). If caught early, Rheumatoid arthritis can be treated. Many people should be aware of the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, risk factors, and even the current and future outlook. People should always be aware...
Words: 682 - Pages: 3
...Introduction to Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic condition that can change a course of a person’s life. During the last decade there has been significant changes and progress that has been made to treat rheumatoid arthritis. These treatment advances have played a major role in slowing the progression of the disease, and improving quality of life. It is a progressive and painful condition in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, especially a thin membrane that lines the joints called the synovium. It is disease that can have a devastating effect on a person, and it is really necessary for health care workers to recognize its symptoms, provide education and give treatment to slow down the progression of this distressing disease. The article Nursing Considerations for Infusions Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis Verus Malignancy by Nicole Furfaro and Philip J. Mease was published in 2008 in the Journal of Infusion Nursing. The article is about the different treatment available for rheumatoid arthritis especially the drug rituximab. It discusses the effects of the medication and important factors infusion nurses need to monitor and be aware of while administering this drug. Another article Treatment of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis by Karim Raza, Mike Salmon and Christopher Buckley was published in 2005 in the Journal Therapy. This article discusses the importance of early treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and compares different studies...
Words: 1355 - Pages: 6
...Rheumatoid Arthritis is a progressive autoimmune disease. The cause is not known. It is an incurable disease. This disease has flareups and remissions stages. Different factors can cause the flare ups such as stress or environmental factors. The affected joints do not have to be symmetrical. Lots of different joints all over the body can be affected. Mostly the smaller joints, such as the knees, feet, hands which has warmth, erythema and swelling. An autoimmune disease means the body is attacking itself. If the body doesn’t recognize itself the immune system starts to attack the lining of the joints or what is called the Synovial membrane when the immune system is in overactive state. When the body attacks itself it damages the connective tissue. This...
Words: 519 - Pages: 3
