Rheumatoid arthritis (patient information)

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What is rheumatoid arthritis?

How do I know if I have rheumatoid arthritis and what are the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis?

Signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis come and go, depending on the degree of tissue inflammation. When the disease is active, the following symptoms appear.

Morning stiffness in the joints
Joint pain
Joint swelling
Rheumatoid nodules: Firm bumps of tissue under the skin on the arms.
Fatigue and weakness
Low fever
Weight loss
When heart is affected, patient may show signs of chest pain, shortness of breath or edema of lower limbs.

Who is at risk for rheumatoid arthritis?

As a autoimmune disease, the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not clear.

How to know you have rheumatoid arthritis?

Blood tests: These tests can assist in making a diagnosis of rheumatic arthritis.

Rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies and antinuclear antibody (ANA): These antibodies can be found in most of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Sedimentation rate (ESR): This test can measure how much inflammation is in the body. Patients with rheumatic arthritis may show an increased ESR.
Complete blood count

Synovial fluid examination: When a patient demonstrate the signs of acute inflammatory arthritis, it is necessary to aspirate synovial fluid of the involved joint to rule out an infectious arthritis. During the procedure, the doctor may use a needle to draw fluid from your affected joint. Based on the discovery of urate crystals in the synovial fluid or soft tissues, the doctors can confirm the diagnosis.
Joint x-ray test: The goal of this test is to track the progression of rheumatoid arthritis in your joints over time.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): An MRI uses magnetic fields but it is a different type of image than what is produced by computed tomography (CT) and produces detailed images of the joint.