Rheumatoid arthritis

Disease information

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease which manifests as painful and swollen joints with restricted movements and progressive destruction. One of the hallmarks of the disease is morning stiffness in the joints that improves with activity. The overall worldwide prevalence of the disease clicks at around 0.5 to 1% , with the disease affecting women twice as commonly as men. Women between the ages 55 to 64 whereas men between 65 and 75 years of age mostly develop the disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis is usually gradual in onset. The disease process starts with the appearance of antibodies which on average is 3 to 4 or even 15 years before the first joint complaints. Two major antibodies are usually implicated in RA:

• The rheumatoid factor which is an IgM autoantibody against IgG
• Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA).

ACPAs against citrullinated peptides play a highly predictive role in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. This can be ascertained from a surge in these antibodies during the change of undifferentiated arthritis to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The presence of these antibodies helps in the early diagnosis of the disease.