HOW TO TREAT RHEUMATOID ARTHIRITIS. RA Signs and Symptoms and Management.

hello and welcome to med simplified chronic joint pain caused by arthritis affects millions of people across the world every year there are different types of arthritis but in this video we will discuss one of the most common form of arthritis known as rheumatide arthritis we will talk about what is rheumatoid arthritis what are the signs and symptoms you can develop if you have this disease and how is ra diagnosed and what is its treatment hi i'm dr umar malik and let's begin rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of autoimmune arthritis it affects more than 1.3 million people in america every year alone the disease most often begins between the ages of 30 and 50. however rheumatite arthritis can start at any age rheumatic arthritis is an autoimmune disease autoimmune diseases include diseases like systemic lupus multiple sclerosis psoriasis sjogren's disease etc in these types of diseases the body's own immune system attacks its own cells mistakenly and damages them in rheumatoid arthritis the body's immune system attacks the membranes that cover our joints and these are known as the synovial membranes your immune system is supposed to attack foreign substances in your body like bacteria and viruses by creating inflammation in an autoimmune disease the immune system mistakenly sends inflammation to your own healthy tissue the immune system creates a lot of inflammation that is sent to your joints causing joint pain and swelling if the inflammation remains present for a longer period of time it can cause damage to the joint this damage typically cannot be reversed once it occurs the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is clearly not known there is evidence that autoimmune conditions run in families for instance certain genes that you are born with can make you more likely to get rheumatoid arthritis in rheumatoid arthritis our own immune cells produce certain chemicals and antibodies that attack the synovial membranes of our joints and this leads to swelling pain and stiffness in the joints if this condition is not controlled in the early stages it can cause damage to the joints that is permanent and not reversible rheumatoid arthritis typically affects the joints in your hands wrists knees elbows shoulders and your ankles the joints affected are usually symmetrical meaning it affects the same joints on both sides of the body this is an important factor that clinicians use to differentiate rheumatoid arthritis from osteoarthritis which is another very common type of arthritis but the joint pain in osteoarthritis is usually asymmetrical rheumatic arthritis can also affect other organ systems in your body about 40 percent of people who have rheumatoid arthritis also experience signs and symptoms that don't involve the joints other than joints it can affect your eyes your skin the gastrointestinal tract it can also affect the heart the blood vessels kidneys and lungs before discussing about the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis let's first take a look at some of the factors that increase the risk of rheumatoid arthritis you have high risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis if you are aged 60 years or above if you are a female because females have higher risk of autoimmune diseases if you have specific genetic traits for rheumatoid arthritis if you are suffering from obesity you also have higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis if you smoke tobacco or even your parents smoke tobacco when they were children rheumatoid arthritis symptoms are different for each person some people have long periods of remission with few or no symptoms others develop severe pain and stiffness episodes that can last from a few weeks to many months new and earlier treatment is changing the overall picture of rheumatoid arthritis more people are having low disease activity or even going into remission promoted arthritis usually affects the hands and feet first but it can occur in any joint it usually involves the same joints on both sides of the body like we discussed common symptoms include stiff joints especially upon getting up in the morning or after sitting down for a while or after prolonged activity increased stiffness early in the morning is often a prominent feature of the disease and typically lasts for more than an hour gentle movements can relieve the pain in early stages of the disease these signs help to distinguish rheumatic arthritis from osteoarthritis in osteoarthritis early morning stiffness is less prominent your affected joints also become tender meaning there is pain when you press your joints the joints may feel warmer and may even have color changes related to inflammation as they can seem a bit reddish rheumatic arthritis can also cause generalized symptoms like fatigue muscle pains poor appetite and a depressed mood now like we discussed rheumatoid arthritis can also affect several parts of your body other than your joints let's look at what signs and symptoms you can develop if rheumatoid arthritis affects your skin you can get rheumatide nodules these are bumps under your skin most of the time they aren't painful and they move easily when you touch them about one in four people with rheumatoid arthritis get these skin bumps they usually develop on your elbows but they might show up on other bony areas like the underside of your forearm your acne tendon or the tendons in your hands rheumatic arthritis can also damage your lungs or the membranes covering your lungs this causes chest pain that worsens with breathing lung problems are the most common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis outside the joints you might notice shortness of breath upon minimal activity or if rheumatoid arthritis remains active for a long time it can cause pulmonary fibrosis which is hard to treat condition that makes it tough to breathe likewise rheumatic arthritis can inflame the lining around your heart or your heart muscles you probably wouldn't notice symptoms from that at first but later on in life there's a chance you could feel shortness of breath or sharp stabbing pain in the chest it can also raise your risk of heart failure atrial fibrillation and stroke with age rheumatic arthritis can also cause inflammation of your blood vessels it can show up as spots on the skin or can also cause ulcers in more severe cases so these were some of the signs and symptoms you can develop if you have rheumatoid arthritis your physician may order some lab tests to confirm the diagnosis of rheumatite arthritis these tests can include the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and c-reactive protein higher levels of esr and crb indicate excessive inflammation in the body a a or antinuclear antibody test and anti-ccp also known as anticyclic citrullinated peptide test are also done which can indicate the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis rheumatic factor antibody test is also done which can indicate rheumatoid arthritis but not everyone with rheumatoid arthritis tests positive for ra factor x-ray or mri of a joint can help to identify what type of arthritis is present x-rays can show how much joint damage you have and mri can give a more detailed picture of your joints apart from these specific tests your doctor can also order basic tests like a complete blood count kidney and liver function tests as rheumatoid arthritis can affect multiple organs now let's discuss how is rheumatoid arthritis treated and how you can manage your symptoms on a daily basis if you have rheumatoid arthritis now rheumatoid arthritis is a disease which has been present since ages and many different types of treatments have been used in the history but with incomplete results or even serious side effects in 1897 a german chemist felix hoffman started using acetyl salicylic acid or aspirin to treat various forms of arthritis but taking aspirin for longer periods of time caused serious side effects like blood clotting disorders and stomach ulcers in the 1930s even injectable gold was used as a disease modifying drug for rheumatic arthritis gold showed some success with years of use and is still a component in a number of disease modifying drugs used even today but in today's modern era the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is much more developed with introduction of newer and safer disease modifying drugs with few to no side effects the first line of drugs that are used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis are known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs these drugs include diclofenac acyclofinag ibuprofen naproxen endometrin etc as you can tell by their name these are anti-inflammatory drugs meaning they decrease the inflammation or the swelling that occurs in the joints due to rheumatic arthritis this reduces the pain and tenderness and also helps in prevention of long-term damage to the joints the second category of drugs that are used are steroids these are used when you do not get a good relief from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or if you have advanced rheumatoid arthritis steroids reduce the pain and inflammation in the joints and can play a very important role in slowing down joint damage but they cannot cure rheumatoid arthritis steroids are especially useful for acute symptoms or short-term flare-ups of rheumatoid arthritis long-term use of steroids can have serious side effects these include cataracts osteoporosis glaucoma diabetes mellitus and obesity the most important category of drugs that are used for treating rheumatoid arthritis are known as disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs also known as demarts d-marts can slow the progression of rheumatide arthritis and prevent permanent damage to the joints and other tissues by interfering with the overactive immune system it is most effective if a person uses it in the early stages but it can take from 4 to 6 months to fully experience the benefits some people may have to try different types of disease modifying drugs before finding the most suitable one the most common demarts that are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis include leplunomide methotrexate sulfasarazine minocycline and hydroxychloroquine side effects vary but may include liver damage bone marrow suppression and lung infections and since these drugs have to be taken for lifetime the side effects of these drugs can be a serious issue that is why recently many newer types of drugs have been developed for treating rheumatoid arthritis one such category of drugs are known as biologicals also known as biologic response modifiers now like we discussed in rheumatoid arthritis your immune cells produce certain chemicals that play a role in damaging your joint membranes which lead to symptoms like pain swelling and tenderness one such chemical is tumor necrosis factor alpha also known as tnf alpha tnf alpha causes the release of other inflammatory chemicals like interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 these interleukins in turn lead to more inflammation and bone and cartilage destruction therefore drugs were developed which specifically target the tnf chemical and these are known as anti-tnf alpha drugs these include infliximab adalimumab and etanercept since these drugs lower the activity of your immune system they increase the risk of infections but these drugs do not have serious long-term side effects like most of the other medicines used for rheumatic arthritis have but these are costly and not everyone can afford them biological drugs are used most effectively when they are combined with a non-biological drug such as methotrexate one important thing to consider before starting biologicals is to test for a latent tuberculosis infection in your body because these drugs can cause a latent infection to reactivate recently a new class of disease modifying drugs are being used for rheumatoid arthritis known as janus kinase inhibitors or jack inhibitors if you have rheumatoid arthritis your body makes too many proteins known as cytokines which play an important role in inflammation some cytokines attach to receptors on immune cells and signal the immune cells to make even more cytokines jack inhibitors stop this process by blocking the messaging pathway this slows down your immune system activity and helps to decrease your ra symptoms these include drugs like tophacetinib and paracetamol older drugs don't always work for everyone only about 65 percent of people who take disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs get relief from their symptoms if you are not in this group a jack inhibitor might make a difference in one study about half of the people with rheumatic arthritis who didn't improve with biological drugs had symptoms that were less severe after they took jack inhibitors to facetime for three months another advantage of jack inhibitors is that you can take them by mouth you must inject biologicals such as adalimumab into your skin while other disease modifying drugs for rheumatoid arthritis are given intravenously into your bloodstream but you can take jack inhibitors as a pill so this was about the medical treatment now let's take a look at some of the lifestyle modifications you need to implement if you have rheumatoid arthritis because lifestyle modifications like exercise and diet are very important to manage your symptoms and disease activity for people with rheumatoid arthritis exercise can be very beneficial for relieving pain and joint stiffness and it can be particularly helpful during a flare of ra people with rheumatic arthritis who exercise regularly report that they have less pain than those who do not exercise exercise can reduce painful symptoms improve joint function and flexibility it also increases the range of motion and also boosts your mood i will leave links to some of the useful videos and articles that explain what types of exercises you should perform and how to do them make sure to check them out in the description box down below people with roommated arthritis should avoid sternus exercise or any exercise that causes joint pain these may include high impact exercises that put excessive strain on your joints so friends i hope you found this video helpful and informative if you did you can support math simplified by subscribing to our channel you can also join our patreon community where we share patreon only exclusive content like health tips diet charts behind the scenes of our videos and much more thank you so much for watching see you in the next video

Channel: MEDSimplified

Views: 672,753

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Id: P9qmT8fpYSc

Length: 16min 57sec (1017 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 20 2021