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Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms
What are the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)?
Symptoms in the joints
RA mostly affects the joints. But it can also cause problems in other parts of your body.
Joint pain can be an early symptom of many different diseases. In RA, symptoms often develop slowly over a period of weeks or months. Fatigue and stiffness are usually early symptoms. Weight loss and a low-grade fever can also occur.
Joint symptoms include:
- Pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints of the hands, wrists, elbows, feet, ankles, knees, or neck. The disease usually affects both sides of the body at the same time. In rare but severe cases, it may affect the eyes, lungs, heart, nerves, or blood vessels.
- Morning stiffness. Joint stiffness may develop after long periods of sleeping or sitting. It usually lasts at least 1 hour and often up to several hours.
- Bumps (nodules). Rheumatoid nodules ranging in size from a pea to a mothball form in nearly one-third of people who have RA. Nodules usually form over pressure points in the body such as the elbows, knuckles, spine, and lower leg bones.
Symptoms in the neck
When RA affects the joints of the neck, especially the joints at the top of the spine, the bones and joints may dislocate and press on the spinal cord or on the nerve roots. This pressure can cause:
- Neck pain, along with weakness, numbness, or tingling of hands, feet, legs, or arms. This is the most common symptom.
- Loss of bowel or bladder control.
- Unusual head and neck sensations.
Pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots may obstruct blood flow through the blood vessels in the spinal cord. This compression of the spinal cord is fairly rare. But it can lead to being paralyzed if it's not treated.
Other symptoms
Along with specific joint symptoms, RA can cause symptoms throughout the body (systemic). RA can cause problems in the:
- Eyes. Inflammation of the surface of the eye may cause a dry, gritty-feeling or pain in the eyes.
- Lungs. Inflammation of the membrane sac around the lungs may cause pain and trouble breathing.
- Heart. Thickening and inflammation can occur in the sac around the heart, the heart muscle, and the heart valves. This can cause chest pain and shortness of breath.
- Blood and blood vessels. Low levels of white blood cells and red blood cells and a swollen spleen may occur. Inflammation can affect the blood vessels, causing open skin sores. People with RA seem to develop atherosclerosis earlier than people who don't have RA.
- Nerves and muscles. There may be a loss of strength in muscles next to affected joints. Inflammation may also cause pressure on the nerves.
People with RA may also have fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, and a mild fever.
Clinical Trials
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