Rheumatoid arthritis prognosis

Rheumatoid arthritis prognosis

Rheumatoid Arthritis or RA can be a painful chronic disease. When you hear the word chronic, it would mean that there is no cure. Rheumatoid arthritis prognosis is based on many factors. The rheumatoid arthritis prognosis can be dependent on the severity of the rheumatoid arthritis when it is first diagnosed. It is important for the symptoms to be recognized early so that a medical doctor can already do the diagnosis and would be able to give the patient treatment to manage and control the disease before it would get worse.

Rheumatoid arthritis prognosis would also depend on the age of the patient, sex, and the total health of the patient that is afflicted by the disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is a very complex disease; it may continue to attack the joints progressively including the other body parts of the body. It is an inflammatory arthritis at the same time it is also an autoimmune disease. Instead of the immune system attacking the foreign virus and bacteria in the body, with the RA, the immune system would attack the synovium which is a thin membrane lining the joints.  Because of the immune systems assault to the synovium, there is a buildup of fluids in the joints that would cause pain and inflammation not only to the joints but throughout the whole body as well.

When doctors would give a rheumatoid arthritis prognosis, they also need to consider during the diagnosis if what is happening is the first attack of rheumatoid arthritis or if it is a flare.  This disease has periods of remission and sudden attacks which are quite painful.  There may be patients who would experience remission for a couple of years without single sign and symptom that they are afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis.

Patients who are undergoing the remission process are still advised to follow the proper diet and therapeutic exercises to prevent rheumatoid arthritis from suddenly flaring back again. Proper diet for the RA patients would include avoiding trans fat and saturated fat. It would be wise to avoid foods that are high in trans fat because rheumatoid arthritis is an auto immune disease and trans fat is the kind of fat that would specifically weaken the body’s immune system which would make the disease more severe instead of being manageable and under control. Purine rich foods from animal source like the liver, brain and kidneys should be avoided. Eating lots of fresh vegetables is beneficial because of the vitamins and minerals in them that could help strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation and would also repair the damage tissues of the body. Adding some supplements to one’s daily diet would ensure that the body would get all the vitamins and minerals it would need.

Rheumatoid arthritis could cause joint deformities when it is already at its advanced stage and could even destroy the shape of the bones affected.  It would not come as a surprise that at this severe stage, other organs of the body would also be affected.