Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder which causes chronic inflammation of tissues around the joints. It is known as autoimmune disease, because the antibodies present in the blood of the sufferer attacks the body tissues. Hence, the immune system of the body attacks the joints mistakenly. People in 40-50 years of age are more prone to this condition. This is a worldwide condition, but in the United Stated more than 2 million persons suffer from this debilitating condition. However, the ratio of the disease is more in women as compared to men. Research has shown that it is the most commonly occurring type of arthritis in the United States.

Although many organs of the body are affected by rheumatoid arthritis, but the major joints being attacked by this condition are synovial joints in wrists, knees and ankles. The most commonly occurring symptoms are fever, muscle pain and swelling of joints accompanied by weight loss. It has also been seen that people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis experience fatigue, insomnia, and restricted joint movement especially in the morning. It is also difficult for them to hold objects.

Some symptoms are shared by nearly all types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, gouty arthritis, and osteoarthritis. There are over 100 types of arthritis categorized on the basis of their symptomatic differences which are specific to each type. The sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis show some additional symptoms such as stiffness of joints, swelling and pain. This type of arthritis affects the joints symmetrically, followed by the appearance of lumps under the skin known as rheumatoid nodules. This disease leads to the reduction of space between the joints, causing bone erosion.

Anemia, erthrocyte sedimentation rate, swan neck, ulna deviation and deformation of bones are some of the other symptoms of chronic RA. Deformity of hands is the one of the most commonly seen symptoms as well. This symptom appears with the ulnar deviation which is basically the deviation of fingers towards the bone of forearm. The tendons attach to the bones and are responsible for the movement of bones get ruptured due to this disease. As a result, it is difficult to move the fingers and perform the regular functions of the average everyday person. There are several surgeries which can be helpful in improving the deformities caused by rheumatoid arthritis. However, there is no permanent cure of this disease, as it is an autoimmune disorder; fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to reduce symptoms in sufferers.