Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease which affects around 1% of the world’s population. It is an inflammatory disease which affects many of the body’s organs and tissues. The main area that rheumatoid arthritis attacks is the joints.
The joints of a person with rheumatoid arthritis will become inflamed and this usually progresses to destroying the cartilage in the joints and then causing stiffness of the joints. This is very painful for the sufferer. As well as attacking the joints, rheumatoid arthritis can also produce inflammation in other areas of the body such as the sclera, lungs, pericardium, pleura and skin. It affects the skin due to nodular lesions which form under it. The cause is still unknown but is linked to the autoimmune system.
Women are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than men and it often starts at around the age of 40 or 50 but people can be afflicted at any age. It is a very painful disease and can create significant disabling due to loss of function and mobility of the sufferer.
