Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to fail to recognize joint tissues and attack them.
Its causes are unknown. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes our body's antibodies not to recognize the tissue of the joints and attack them causing inflammation, pain and deformities.
In addition to joint inflammation, the most common symptoms include morning stiffness, joint deformity and reduced mobility. It has a higher incidence in women than in men, and usually appears between the ages of 40 and 60.
An autoimmune disease
The causes that lead the immune system to react in this way are not known at this time, although it is believed to be due to a genetic predisposition to the disease, coupled with a trigger that can be an infection, a trauma or even tobacco. It can appear in any joint - usually symmetrically - and in 90% of cases it affects the hands and feet.
By not recognizing the joint tissue, the immune system attacks the synovial membrane, causing inflammation. They then attack the cartilage and bone. If the inflammation persists for some time, causing biochemical changes that lead to the bones not maintaining their fixed position, causing dislocations and deformities.
Antibodies travel in the bloodstream, which can cause them to attack other organs as well, such as the salivary and lacrimal glands, causing dry eyes and mouth. In the lung it can cause detachments of the pleural membrane and rheumatoid nodules. It can also cause alterations in the walls of the arteries, causing long-term heart attacks.
