What is the average life expectancy of someone with rheumatoid arthritis?

What is the average life expectancy of someone with rheumatoid arthritis?

In general, it is possible for RA to reduce life expectancy by around 10 to 15 years. However, many people continue to live with their symptoms past the age of 80 or even 90 years.

Is rheumatoid arthritis very serious?

RA is a very serious autoimmune disease, in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body’s tissues and causes severe joint pain, stiffness, severe fatigue, and sometimes deformity, usually in the hands, shoulders, knees, and/or feet.

What is the root cause of rheumatoid arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition, which means it’s caused by the immune system attacking healthy body tissue. However, it’s not yet known what triggers this. Your immune system normally makes antibodies that attack bacteria and viruses, helping to fight infection.

What organs are affected by rheumatoid arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints. In some people, the condition can damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels.

Will rheumatoid arthritis cripple me?

RA leads to joint damage, too. That can cause disability, and some people end up needing serious medical treatments like joint replacement surgery. It can hurt other parts of the body, too, like the eyes, heart, and lungs.

Who typically gets rheumatoid arthritis?

Anyone can get RA. It affects about 1\% of Americans. The disease is two to three times more common in women than in men, but men tend to have more severe symptoms. It usually starts in middle age.

Does rheumatoid arthritis shorten life span?

Over the years, studies have shown that RA can shorten lifespan by an average of about ten years, the cause for this decrease is due to multiple factors, and there is an increasing impetus of managing other factors aside from physical disability and improvement of quality of life.

How long can a person live with rheumatoid arthritis?

An exact life expectancy is almost impossible to predict due to the varying nature of the disease. In general, patients can expect that the rheumatoid arthritis life expectancy could be shortened by roughly 10 years to as many as 15 years.

How serious is rheumatoid arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis raises the risk of early heart disease, and research suggests the increased risk is linked to chronic inflammation caused by RA. An out-of-control inflammatory process damages blood vessels and heart tissue and has been associated with both heart attack and stroke.

How do you diagnose rheumatoid arthritis early?

Rheumatoid arthritis can be difficult to diagnose in its early stages because the early signs and symptoms mimic those of many other diseases. There is no one blood test or physical finding to confirm the diagnosis. During the physical exam, your doctor will check your joints for swelling, redness and warmth.