Rheumatoid arthritis and its effects on your body

Written by Julie Howell 11/17/2024 and edited 6/26/2026

Photo credit of https://www.online-sciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Rheumatoid-Arthritis.webp

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be debilitating, and it affects up to 1% of the population, typically affecting women more than men, and the risk increases with age (Vanmeter et al. 2022). Other risk factors noted are family history, excess weight, and smoking. The Mayo Clinic (2024) advises that in rheumatoid arthritis, your immune system attacks healthy tissue in your joints, which causes other medical issues. Genes play a role in the activation of RA caused by an immune response to a virus, bacteria, or environmental trigger.

            Rheumatoid arthritis is listed as a musculoskeletal disorder; however, it is also described as an autoimmune response, and genetic factors play a role in the response to infections. It causes inflammation in the joints and connective tissue, leading to joint damage. The damage starts in the small joints first, such as the fingers, and progresses from there (Pizzorno et al., 2020). The synovial membrane is affected by vasodilation, increased permeability, and exudate formation. This causes red, swollen, and painful joints, which is caused by a rheumatoid factor (RF), an antibody against immunoglobulin G (IGG). Mayo Clinic (2024) advises that RA also affects blood vessels, skin, eyes, lungs, and heart. Other signs and symptoms of RA include tender, warm, red and swollen joints, fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, and joint stiffness. Progression leads to fibrosis, cartilage erosion, and joint deformity. Some other complications of progression noted by the Mayo Clinic (2024) are osteoporosis, dry eyes and mouth, opportunistic infections, deformed joints, carpal tunnel, lymphoma, lung disease, and cardiovascular problems.

  In the article by Han et al. (2022), they look at studies that used standard synthetic medications in collaboration with Chinese herbal medicine like Glycyrrhizae radix and Cinnamomi ramulus, and say that the herbal remedies helped with adverse effects but also optimized the benefits of the standard disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)

References

Han, R., Ren, H. C., Zhou, S., Gu, S., Gu, Y.-Y., Sze, D. M., & Chen, M.-H. (2022). Conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs combined with Chinese Herbal Medicines for rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, 12(5), 437–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcme.2022.01.005 

Mayo Clinic (2024). Rheumatoid Arthritis. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353648 

Pizzorno, J. E. & Murray, M. T. (2020). Textbook of Natural Medicine - 2 volume set (5th ed). Elsevier.

VanMeter, K.C. & Hubert, R.J. (2022). Gould's pathophysiology for the health professions (7th ed.). St. Louis: MO, Elsevier/Saunders.