Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic, autoimmune disease with erosive and symmetrical polyarthritis as the main clinical manifestation, which is caused by changes in the body's immune system, resulting in the production of antibodies to supply its own joints. So how can we identify rheumatoid arthritis as early as possible?Before answering this question, let's first learn about rheumatoid arthritis.
There are four main causes of rheumatoid arthritis
1.Genetic factors.
According to clinical statistics, if a family member suffers from rheumatoid and other rheumatoid immune diseases, then the probability of suffering from rheumatoid is greater than that of ordinary people.
2.Environmental factors.
Environmental factors are an important cause of rheumatoid arthritis, and the environmental factors here are not only natural factors such as air and cold, but also human or infectious factors such as tobacco and alcohol, chemical agents, and viral infections. These environmental factors can lead to a disorder of the immune system in the body, which in turn promotes the development of rheumatoid arthritis.
3.Immunity issues.
The role of the immune system itself is to protect our own health and attack foreign pathogens, but if our immune system is disordered, it may lead to "friend or foe", and then attack various organs of the body, and when it attacks the joints, it will lead to the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis.
4.Estrogen effects.
When estrogen production is abnormal, it can affect the immune system, causing rheumatoid arthritis. Estrogen deficiency during menopause in women can affect the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and can also affect the level of inflammation.
So, how can we tell if we have rheumatoid arthritis?
Four conditions can be due to rheumatoid arthritis
1.Morning stiffness. If we wake up early and have stiff hands, it may be caused by rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, so how can we tell whether the probability of rheumatoid arthritis is high or osteoarthritis is high?Generally speaking, morning stiffness caused by osteoarthritis usually recovers within half an hour, but if the symptoms of morning stiffness persist for at least one hour and are accompanied by swelling and pain, it may be rheumatoid arthritis.
2.Polyarticulation, facet joints, symmetrical pain.
The pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis often occurs in the interphalangeal joints, metacarpophalangeal joints, metatarsophalangeal joints and other small melon pinching parts, and often presents multiple joints at the same time, and the pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis often involves both joints at the same time, but this does not mean that the joint pain is absolutely symmetrical.
3.with subcutaneous nodules.
Rheumatoid arthritis often occurs with subcutaneous nodules at bony sites, extensor surfaces, and around joints.
4.The course of the disease is long.
Rheumatoid arthritis tends to occur over a longer period of time, and pain and discomfort may persist for months or even years.
For rheumatoid arthritis, of course, the sooner the better, timely help control the progression of the disease, reduce uncomfortable symptoms, delay the development of the disease, and the premise of early ** is that we want to detect the disease as early as possible, how should we diagnose it as soon as possible?Early recognition of rheumatoid arthritis is particularly important.
Six judging criteria for early identification of rheumatoid arthritis
1.Fear of cold. The finger joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature, and the finger joints are prone to whiteness, purple, numbness, and even pain when exposed to cold water.
2.Morning stiffness. If you have a stiff feeling in your fingers when you wake up in the morning, the stiffness will slowly improve after the activity, which may be due to rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, as rheumatoid progressively worsens, the duration of this morning stiffness of the fingers becomes longer and longer.
3.Finger deviation.
In the early stages of the disease, rheumatoid patients may have a slight deviation of the fingers, usually in the direction of the little finger.
4.Muscle atrophy.
In the early stages of rheumatoid, the muscles of the phalanges may atrophy, which, combined with the swelling of the joints, can lead to the shape of the patient's fingers as "fusiform" or "eggplant-like".
5.Pigmentation. Rheumatoid involvement of the dorsal side of the finger joints is prone to pigmentation, which is characterized by darkening, darkening, and thickening of keratin.
6.Symptoms of both hands are symmetrical.
The last one is the symmetrical appearance of the symptoms of both hands that we mentioned above, that is, the symptoms of the left and right hands are basically the same.
The occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis is extremely harmful to patients, is one of the main causes of human inability to work and disability, and may also lead to infection, vasculitis, pulmonary pruning fibrosis and other complications that lead to the end of life