Rheumatoid Arthritis

There are more than 100 varieties of arthritis. The term arthritis literally means “inflammation (swelling) of a joint.” Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) are two of the most common types of arthritis, with OA being more common than RA. Both OA and RA are characterized by inflammation in the joints, with RA having more intense levels of inflammation.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of unknown cause. RA not only affects your joints but also affects a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, blood, nerves, and heart. RA affects just over 1.3 million Americans — approximately 0.6 percent of the population — and approximately one percent of the world’s population.