What is rheumatoid arthritis?
Arthritis, which means swelling of the joints, affects millions of people in the United States. However, not all arthritis is the same. For example, while osteoarthritis is the result of wear and tear over years of using your joints, rheumatoid arthritis develops very differently.
Sometimes your body's immune system can attack its own healthy cells and tissues with no known cause. When your immune system attacks the tissues of your joints, it leads to rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder. Rheumatoid arthritis most often affects your hands and wrists.
Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis often begins between ages 30 and 50. Symptoms may appear very quickly or build up over time, and include:
- Pain, stiffness and swelling in your joints
- Losing the ability to move or grasp items
- Bumps over joints in your wrists and hands
- Fatigue