The Causes, Risk Factors Occurrence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in United Research Paper

The Causes, Risk Factors Occurrence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in United States - Research Paper Example   Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. It is generally seen that the joints become swollen and there is severe pain that is experienced by the patients. Researchers have found that RA causes the immune system of a person to attack their joints. In RA, the autoimmune response can lead to permanent, painful changes in the joints. This disease is an autoimmune defect and it causes healthy cells to be attacked, releasing enzymes that attack surrounding tissues. One of these structures is the synovium in the joint. It becomes inflamed and causes swelling and pain. Researches have found that RA affects women three times more often than men. Typically, it affects the small joints first, including the joints of the hands and feet. More than one joint usually is affected, and symptoms often appear bilaterally.   Arthritis is a serious problem that is faced by many around the world and it is estimated that about 50 million adults in the United States have r eported the doctors to have some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia. Another estimation suggests that the problem of arthritis is so chronic that one in every five adults in the US report having doctor-diagnosed arthritis. There are also projections that suggest that by the year 2030, 67 million Americans will have doctor-diagnosed arthritis at the age of 18 or older and those that are below the age of 18 an estimated 294,000 children will have some form of arthritis or rheumatic condition. In other words, approximately 1 in every 250 children will suffer from this chronic disease all through there life. This points out that arthritis is not just the disease of the elderly, but it is a serious problem among children also. The figures in Florida according to this survey say that 3,903,200 children below the age group of 18 years are having arthritis (Sacks et al. 2007). In a recent survey, it was estimated that about 1.5 million adults had rheumatoi d arthritis in 2007 (CDC, 2010). According to another estimate in Florida, 27% of adults belonging to the age of 18 years and above have arthritis, and the percentage amplifies with age. Additionally, among this population of self-reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis and estimated 46% of them are not able to do any activity due to their arthritis, 17% of them reported that they are not able have good social participation, 28% suffer from severe joint pain, the working population (34%) have various other limitations due to their arthritis (CDC, 2011). Even though the exact causes are indefinite, RA is thought to be the result problems in once own immune system. In other words, the self-defense system of the human body attacks the healthy cells in the body and these results in RA and other autoimmune diseases. Researchers suggest that there is no age restriction for the initiation of RA and is linked with weariness and extended stiffness after rest.  Ã‚