Depending upon the severity and symptoms, RA has been categorized in 4 stages, ranging from stage 1 to stage 4. As the stage levels up, the symptoms start to turn more intense, intolerable, and often difficult to treat. A brief about these stages is as follows:
Stage 1 → Early Stage
This is the early stage, where the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are quite mild. Inflammation, swelling, and stiffness of the joints are observed, which often come and go from time to time. Here, the immune system has started to attack the joint lining (synovium), but the damage does not show up in reports or X-rays.
Stage 2 → Moderate Stage
At this stage, the symptoms that used to occur occasionally tend to become more frequent. Long-term inflammation begins to damage the cartilage, which cushions the bones. As a result, the pain tends to aggravate, and patients also experience a reduced range of motion. Such damage is often visible in X-rays.
Stage 3 → Severe Stage
As the stage reaches the 3rd grade, the symptoms become even more intolerable and intense. The damage progresses beyond cartilage to the bones, and eventually, they become weak. The damage does not necessarily require reports or X-rays, as it becomes quite visible.
Stage 4 → End Stage
At the latter stage, inflammation often subsides, but the joint damage remains, which compels the joint to lose function or fuse. The deformities also start to become rigid, which often lasts for either a chronic period or sometimes even a lifetime.
Causes & Symptoms
What are the main symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Despite being a joint disorder, the Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms do not remain confined to the bones or joints alone. In fact, it can accommodate a large number of symptoms along with the primary joint problems. A brief about them is as follows:
- Joint pain: Such pain is often symmetrical in nature, which means that it affects both sides of the body simultaneously.
- Morning stiffness: A common and discomforting symptom of RA is the intense joint stiffness that mainly arises after waking up in the morning and often stays for around 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Swelling and warmth: The small joints, such as fingers, toes, and ankles, get swollen, warm, and tender.
- Reduced mobility: The patients also complain that they find it difficult to walk, sit, or stand. Some patients also experience a cracking sound while bending their knees.
- Deformity: With time, the joints start to deform. Mainly, such deformities are seen on the fingers, and it becomes impossible to even make a fist or bend the fingers.
- Other symptoms: Fatigue, loss of appetite, skin nodules, tiredness, inflamed eyes, and weakness are some of the secondary symptoms that may accompany Rheumatoid arthritis.
The rheumatoid arthritis normal range is considered to be less than 14-20 IU/mL. Once you have crossed this range, you will eventually start to experience these symptoms. Initially, these symptoms will be mild, but with the passage of time, they will become more intense, frequent, and painful.
What are the early signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
RA, an intense and chronic joint condition, also starts with mild joint pain, stiffness, and inflammation. Often, patients consider it normal and do not seek medical treatment. The prolonged negligence of the early symptoms of RA makes the symptoms more frequent and, over time, start to occur daily with higher intensity and duration. Besides joint-related problems, reduced appetite, morning stiffness, and low-grade fever are some of the prime signs that are observed among patients in the initial stages of RA development.
What causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?
- Autoimmune response: The major cause behind rheumatoid arthritis development is the dysfunction of your immune system. Here, the immune system mistakenly starts to harm its own healthy tissues and cells, assuming them to be harmful toxins or foreign invaders.
- Genetics: Studies and experts confirm that RA could also run in families, causing around a 50-60% risk of passing from one generation to another. The genes that share a strong association with the development of RA are HLA-DRBA1, PTPN22, STAT4, and TRAF1-C5. But it is vital to know that such a hereditary proposition is not always necessary. Even people who carry no such genes may also be affected by RA.
- Poor dietary choices: The food you consume directly affects your overall health and wellness. An unhealthy diet, mainly composed of high-processed items, saturated fats, refined sugar, and sodium, triggers inflammatory cytokines and disrupts the gut microbiome, driving chronic joint pain, inflammation, and stiffness, along with supporting the progression of stages of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Hormones: Hormonal imbalance contributes to the development and progression of Rheumatoid arthritis primarily through sex-based hormonal imbalance, mainly estrogen and androgens. A drop in these hormones triggers an inflammatory response in the body, which eventually results in RA symptoms. Well, that’s a strong fact supporting why RA is more common in women as compared to men due to high hormonal fluctuations during menstruation, post-pregnancy, or menopause.
- Obesity: Being obese or overweight eventually increases the risk of experiencing Rheumatoid Arthritis, as your joints, especially knees and hips, have to tolerate extra pressure induced by heavy weight. Due to such mechanical joint stress, the joints become inflamed, red, and weak. Additionally, obesity can be associated with insulin resistance, where the body’s cells become less responsive to insulin, eventually worsening the condition of RA.
- Lifestyle factors: Last but not least, Rheumatoid arthritis causes involve following a sedentary lifestyle. The lifestyle you follow plays a significant role when it comes to discussing your joint health. Sedentary lifestyle involving no exercise, staying in a fixed posture, and drinking alcohol are also linked with adversely affecting your joints and contributing to RA.
