Rheumatoid Arthritis

RA is a chronic, or long-term, an inflammatory form of arthritis. RA is considered an autoimmune disease, in which your immune system attacks the tissues of your own body. In RA, the immune system mostly attacks tissues in the joints, but it can also affect other organs of your body. In some people, RA seems to run its course and does not gradually get worse. In others, RA gets progressively worse and leads to the destruction of joints.

RA can greatly affect your ability to move and do normal tasks. RA can appear at any age, but most patients are between the ages of 30 and 50. About two million Americans have RA, and most of them are women. RA can affect children and when it does, it is termed Juvenile RA. Juvenile RA will not be discussed in this patient guide.