Rheumatoid Arthritis is an inflammation of connective tissue associated with joints, often accompanied by crippling pain and sometimes by general ill health. It is often an inherited condition, and Still’s Disease is a form of the condition which affects children and adolescents.

Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Joint swelling, often tender, especially of hands and feet (but any joint can be altered)
• Pain often severe in joints
• Stiffness of joints in morning especially
• Range of movement of joints is reduced
• Joints may become deformed and the joints larger and more prominent
• May be weakness, then wasting, in muscles as well as sensory changes
• May be lumps (or nodules) near joints and over pressure points
• General feeling of ill health and anaemia
• Skin may be pale and there may be skin rashes
• May be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• May be associated with Osteoporosis (and or Calciferol Deficiency)
• May be persistent fever lasting for several weeks

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