Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis Organizations doctors have selected the finest professional organizations that can help you gain an even better understanding of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Foundation ...

Positive Thinking and Pain (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Realistic optimism fuels the body's immune system and triggers natural painkillers. By Jeanie Lerche Davis Feature Reviewed by Marc C. Levesque, MD, PhD The stress of waging a constant health ba...

Finding Help (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

RA Online Community Chat with others in ’s rheumatoid arthritis community. Here, you’ll also get the latest treatment recommendations and scientific studies from ’s RA expert. Support Group: Arthritis and Joint Pain ...

Preventing Disability (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Aggressive treatment with new, sophisticated drugs can prevent disability. By Jeanie Lerche Davis Feature Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD Carla Guillory was in her 30s -- enjoying life, raisin...

Coping with RA Pain (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Being in pain can be the hardest part of living with rheumatoid arthritis. While medicines help, they don't always make the pain go away completely. Coping with your pain means acknowledging that the problem is not just the pain itself. Constant...

Working with Your Doctor (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Studies have shown that people with rheumatoid arthritis who see a rheumatologist regularly (several times a year) do better than people who visit erratically or not at all. The first step is finding one! Your primary care doctor can ...

Well-Being (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can sometimes feel like a full-time job. It's important to remember that you can't gain control of it all by yourself. It's a complicated condition that can affect your whole life; it needs a coordinated appro...

Hand Exercises (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

7 hand-stretching exercises to ease rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. By Denise Mann Feature Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD You need your hands to cook, clean, type, and do just about everything el...

Joint-Friendly Fitness Routines for RA

Decrease Pain, Increase EnergyExercise more to decrease pain and feel more energetic? Hardly seems possible with RA. But it's true! Inactivity decreases joint motion and flexibility. Inactivity also can lead to weak muscles and deformed joints. Regul...

Exercise (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Learn about the importance of exercise for rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis exercises can safely provide pain relief and build muscle strength. When joints are stiff and painful, exercise might be the last thing on your mind. Yet when you have ...

Diet (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

If you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, you may have heard that a specific diet or certain foods can ease your pain, stiffness, and fatigue. Someday, food may be the medicine of choice for those with arthritis and related inflammatory diseases. Fo...

Assistive Devices (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Eyeglasses, bottle openers, pliers -- we use dozens of assistive devices every day; without them there's a lot we couldn't do. So when rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or another condition puts the brakes on what you do, why not expand your...

Acupuncture (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

To ease arthritis pain, you do not necessarily have to rely solely on pain pills and steroids; there are a few alternative treatments that may help you find relief, including acupuncture. Sel...

Home Remedies (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Looking for some natural treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, or RA? Natural therapies are popular today as people seek to control their health and healing. For those with RA, alternative techniques may let you have greater control of your pain and a...

Surgery (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Drugs for rheumatoid arthritis -- or simply RA -- can slow down the disease. However, after joint damage has occurred, surgery may be a reasonable option. Advancements in surgical treatment are giving people with rheumatoid arthritis more chances to ...

Steroids (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Steroids (short for corticosteroids) are synthetic drugs that closely resemble cortisol, a hormone that your body produces naturally. Steroids work by decreasing inflammation and reducing the activity of the immune system. They are used to treat a va...

Physical Therapy (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Rheumatoid arthritis treatment often includes physical therapy and/or occupational therapy. Healthy joints are the "hinges" that let us move around and function every day. Many of us take that for granted. But if your joints are affected by rheu...

Biologics (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

In the last decade, there have been significant advances in treating rheumatoid arthritis, especially for patients whose arthritis does not respond to traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The most important advance has been the...

DMARDs (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Rheumatoid arthritis treatment can include medications that slow the progression of joint damage from rheumatoid arthritis. These drugs are called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and they are an important part of an overall treatment ...

Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

NSAIDs -- or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- are commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). NSAIDS help manage the chronic pain, inflammation, and swelling associated with RA. NSAIDs do not slow RA progression. If there is not goo...

Medications (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease affecting your joints. It gets worse over time unless the inflammation is stopped or slowed. Only in very rare cases does rheumatoid arthritis go into remission without treatment. Arthritis medicat...

Joint Damage Prevention (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

When rheumatoid arthritis flares up, it makes joints feel stiff and achy. That discomfort may go away at times, but there may still be permanent damage. Eventually rheumatoid arthritis can harm joints so they don't work as well even when the disease ...

Questions for Your Doctor (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, early and aggressive treatment can help you forestall joint damage and worsening pain. But all treatments have some side effects. To help you develop a good treatment plan for your RA, here are 10 questions to ask yo...

Treatment (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

The main treatment goals with rheumatoid arthritis are to control inflammation and slow or stop the progression of RA. Treatment is usually a multifaceted program that consists of medications, occupational or physical therapy, and regular exerci...

Rheumatoid Factor (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

The rheumatoid factor test is a commonly ordered test to help diagnose rheumatoid arthritis. This test measures rheumatoid factor, which is an antibody in the blood that's present in many people with RA. In fact, the rheumatoid factor blood test is e...

Tests (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

If your doctor suspects you have arthritis, he or she may have your blood drawn to determine which type of arthritis you have. In people with osteoarthritis, blood tests are not usually abnormal, but with other types of arthritis, including rheuma...

Diagnosis (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in the early stages, can be difficult. There is no single test that can clearly identify rheumatoid arthritis. Instead, doctors diagnose rheumatoid arthritis based on factors that are strongly associated with ...

Vasculitis: When RA Affects Blood Vessels (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

What Is Vasculitis? Vasculitis is a general term that refers to inflammation of blood vessels. When blood vessels become inflamed, they may become weakened, stretch, and either increase in size or become narrow -- even to the point of closing en...

When Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Affects the Eyes (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

Here is information about how juvenile arthritis can cause eye problems -- including uveitis -- and what can be done to protect your child's eyes. What is juvenile arthritis? Juvenile arthritis is an autoimmune disease. That means the immun...

Heart Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis (Rheumatoid Arthritis)

According to the American College of Rheumatology, rheumatoid arthritis almost doubles the risk of having a heart attack within the first 10 years of getting an RA diagnosis. There is good news, too. A heart-healthy lifestyle and certain medications ...