can rheumatoid arthritis affect your heart and lungs?
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Widespread inflammation Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition which can cause inflammation to develop in other parts of your body, such as the: lungs – inflammation of the lungs or lung lining can lead to pleurisy or pulmonary fibrosis, which can cause chest pain, a persistent cough and shortness of breath.
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Rheumatoid arthritis mainly affects the joints. It can cause problems in any joint in the body, although the small joints in the hands and feet are often the first to be affected.
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Rheumatoid vasculitis can affect blood vessels in many parts of your body. For this reason, it can cause many different symptoms. It most often damages blood vessels to the skin, fingers and toes, nerves, eyes, and heart. This reduces blood flow to these areas and damages them.
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Rheumatoid arthritis is one cause of that inflammation, and while the cause isn't always known, it has been linked to both injuries and physical strain. The RA inflammation may cause a sharp, stabbing chest pain that can be mistaken for a heart attack.
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In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), immune cells mistakenly attack tissues lining the joints. This can lead to stiffness, swelling, pain, and disability. More than a million people nationwide live with RA. Existing drugs can slow the progression of the disease in some people.
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Costochondritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis: What You Need to Know. Sometimes referred to as RA chest pain, this symptom can be frightening, but the cause is rarely serious. Costochondritis is caused by inflammation of the cartilage that connects your breastbone, also known as your sternum, to your ribs.
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that most commonly affects the joints of the hands, feet, wrists, elbows, knees and ankles.
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Rheumatoid arthritis is often referred to as RA. The inflammation in the joints causes joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and loss of function. The inflammation often affects other organs and systems of the body, including the lungs, heart, and kidneys.
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Both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are conditions that damage your joints, causing swelling, stiffness, and pain. Both are autoimmune diseases, which means your immune system attacks healthy parts of your body by mistake. They can also damage organs such as skin, eyes, and blood vessels.
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It most often starts in the small joints of the hands and feet, and usually affects the same joints on both sides of the body. More than 90% of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) develop symptoms in the foot and ankle over the course of the disease.
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Rheumatic fever, an inflammatory disease, can affect many connective tissues, especially in the heart, joints, skin, or brain. The infection often causes heart damage, particularly scarring of the heart valves, forcing the heart to work harder to pump blood.
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Rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis can cause pain, swelling and deformity. As the tissue that lines your joints (synovial membrane) becomes inflamed and thickened, fluid builds up and joints erode and degrade. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints.
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RA, on the other hand, primarily attacks your joints. It affects the fingers, wrists, knees, and ankles. RA can also cause joints to deform, while lupus usually doesn't. RA can also be associated with inflammation in the lungs and around the heart in some cases, and with painful skin nodules.
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The lung problems most often linked to rheumatoid arthritis include: Scarring within the lungs. Scarring related to long-term inflammation (interstitial lung disease) may cause shortness of breath, a chronic dry cough, fatigue, weakness and loss of appetite. Lung nodules.
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Rheumatoid arthritis is not an isolated disease of the bones and joints. It affects tissues throughout the body, causing damage to the blood vessels, nerves, and tendons.
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Toxicity. Since inflammation is a component of rheumatoid arthritis, medications can sometimes alter a person's immune system functions. “Serious and sometimes fatal infections and cancers can occur.” In most instances, a phrase such as this would raise more than one red flag.
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Rheumatoid arthritis RA can affect several small joints in the foot at the same time, including those in the toes. RA often occurs in the small joints of the hands and feet first, though it can affect other joints, such as the knees, elbows, hip, and neck. Around 90 percent of people with RA will have foot problems.