how does rheumatoid arthritis affect the bones?
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Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, a disorder in which the body attacks its own healthy cells and tissues. When someone has rheumatoid arthritis, the membranes around his or her joints become inflamed and release enzymes that cause the surrounding cartilage and bone to wear away.
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RA commonly affects joints in the hands, wrists, and knees. In a joint with RA, the lining of the joint becomes inflamed, causing damage to joint tissue. This tissue damage can cause long-lasting or chronic pain, unsteadiness (lack of balance), and deformity (misshapenness).
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Usually, but not always, rheumatoid arthritis affects many joints. Classically, RA affects the small joints of the hands and wrists and balls of the feet. Also, not uncommonly, knees, elbows, hips, ankles, and shoulders can be inflamed.
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As the disease progresses, symptoms often spread to the wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, hips and shoulders. In most cases, symptoms occur in the same joints on both sides of your body. About 40 percent of the people who have rheumatoid arthritis also experience signs and symptoms that don't involve the joints.
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When rheumatoid arthritis occurs, the immune system attacks a synovial joint's delicate membrane. The affected finger, thumb, and/or wrist joints can become inflamed, swollen, and painful. The disease process involves these 5 steps: White blood cells invade.
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Key points about rheumatoid arthritis RA is a long-term (chronic disease) that causes joint inflammation. RA can also affect many non-joint areas such as the lungs, heart, skin, nerves, muscles, blood vessels, and kidneys. RA may cause deformities in the joints of the finger, making movement difficult.
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In This Article Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can strike anywhere, and that includes your feet. In fact, foot inflammation and pain is an early symptom for many people. Foot symptoms in RA can take many forms, including pain in the joints, stiff ligaments, or constant aching.
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RA can affect the knuckles in the hands and similar joints in the feet, in particular. The number of joints RA affects varies, but it typically affects at least five joints at the same time. RA can worsen and affect more joints as time passes.
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Rheumatoid arthritis causes an overactivity of this lining. It swells and becomes inflamed, destroying the joint, as well as the ligaments and other tissues that support it. Weakened ligaments can cause joint deformities — such as claw toe or hammer toe.
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Although RA commonly affects the hands, wrist, and knees, it can also cause inflammation in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), or jaw joint. If there is jaw involvement, it usually occurs later on in the course of the disease.
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Rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that makes your immune system attack the lining of your joints, leading to inflammation. Chronic inflammation can speed up metabolism and reduce overall weight.
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When you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), you may be used to bouts of pain in the joints of your arms and legs. Chest pain is another matter, but it, too, can happen as a result of rheumatoid arthritis. The condition is called costochondritis, and people can easily mistake it for a heart attack.
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Rheumatoid arthritis causes the normally thin synovium to become inflamed and thickened, leading to an accumulation of synovial fluid and causing pain and swelling. Also, the cartilage and bone ends within the joint may become damaged and eroded leading to loss of function and deformity of the joint.
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune inflammatory condition that causes pain, stiffness, and swelling, is most noted for its effects on the body's joints. But rheumatoid arthritis is also a systemic disease, meaning it can affect the whole body and lead to damage of major organs and even a shortened life span.
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Rheumatoid arthritis can start in the smaller joints of your hands and feet. As the disease progresses, however, it can spread to other parts of your body like the neck. This doesn't typically happen until years after the onset of arthritis symptoms.
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When RA inflammation affects a joint, it can cause bone erosions and slackness in ligaments. In the neck, this can lead to instability between the first and second vertebrae (the atlantoaxial joint) as well as alignment problems when you tilt your head forward or back.
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Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when your immune system attacks the synovium — the lining of the membranes that surround your joints. The resulting inflammation thickens the synovium, which can eventually destroy the cartilage and bone within the joint.