Rheumatoid Arthritis
Transcript: Symptoms and Signs How Disease is Diagnosed Degree of Tissue Inflammation Flares: an increase in a patient's symptoms from their usual symptoms. Can feel Fatigued Lack of Appetite Fevers Stiffness Joints get swollen and start to feel excruciating pain Walking becomes a difficult task. Depression Anorexia Organs get affected Etiology of Rheumatoid Arthritis There isn't a cure. But to help patients, there are medications that reduce inflammation and pain. *NSAIDS(Advil, Aleve,Motrin, etc.) *Steriods*Disease-modifying Antirheumatic drugs (Trexall, Arava, etc.)*Immunosuppressants (Cytoxan, Imuran, etc.)*TNF-alpha Inhibitors (Humira, Cimzia, etc.) Occupational and Physical Therapy Doctor may send you to a therapist to learn exercises Suggest new ways to do daily tasks Assistive Devices (cane) Surgery 1.If medications fail, surgery may help by doing the following: Total Joint Replacement Tendon Repair •Joint Fusion( stabilize joints) 2.Carries risks Varies greatly Mild short-term symptoms Most cases are that the disease is progressive for life Poor Prognosis Patients suffer a double risk of heart disease, diabetes, alcohol abuse, elevated cholesterol, blood pressure and body mass index. Chronic Inflammation has been proposed as the contributing factor. Treatments Rheumatoid Arthritis What is Rheumatoid Arthritis? is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. occurs when the body's tissues are mistakenly attacked by their own immune system. Patients with this have antibodies in their blood that target their own body tissues, where they can be associated with inflammation. can affect organs too, by inflammation as well. Doctor will do some Medical History, by asking questions if patient feels pain on certain joints. A Physical Examination will be done as well and the Doctor we'll try to see if the patient has any original symptoms of R.A. The Doctor will ask for some type of Lab Tests: X-rays Blood Tests Measure of Inflammation Bone Scans Magnetic Resonance Imaging: these tests help check if patients organs have inflammation. By: Michelle Nunez Per. 1 11/12/12 The cause for R.A. is still unknown. But doctors believe that a probable cause could be that this disease is inherited. Suspect that the environment might trigger the activation of the immune system in individuals. The immune system then attacks the body's own tissues. leads to inflammation in the joints and sometimes in various organs of the body, such as the lungs or eyes. Prognosis