Rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive disease, causing increased joint
destruction and restricted movement over time. But the time course and total
extent of this disability varies significantly between people and can be
controlled by treatment with medicine.
Quality of life with rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis affects people in different ways, both in the symptoms
they experience and in the severity of joint changes. Ultimately, rheumatoid
arthritis most commonly leads to joint destruction and deformity if the disease
process is not altered. The bone and cartilage are eroded, and the
surface on which the joint movement occurs is destroyed, often leading to loss
of range of motion. This process may occur over many years, but in certain
people, it develops much more quickly.
Treatment can slow or even stop this process, but some people with
rheumatoid arthritis have complete loss of function of a particular area,
especially the hands. In rare cases, when other organs besides the joints are
affected in rheumatoid arthritis, especially when inflammation of blood vessels
(vasculitis)
is present, rheumatoid arthritis may be life-threatening.
People often ask whether rheumatoid arthritis can spontaneously go into
remission, and unfortunately, for the vast majority, the answer is no. Very few
people with rheumatoid arthritis will experience complete remission without
treatment. Much more commonly, rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, often disabling
condition when not treated early and continually.
It has been known for quite some time that the permanent destruction of
joints begins within the first 2 years of disease in the majority of people
with rheumatoid arthritis. Untreated, this joint destruction leads to loss of
motion, persistent pain and stiffness, and deformity. Eventually, this process
often ends in "burnt-out" disease in which a person is left with
deformed, immobile joints, but little remaining inflammation.
Several treatment
systems have produced good results in preventing new erosions, leading many
rheumatologists to believe that remission of rheumatoid arthritis can be
induced just as it is in some cancers.
