lionbeta:

RA is one of the most serious diseases that rheumatologists treat. Signs and symptoms include swollen and tender joints, especially in the morning. If the puffiness and pain are after exercise, you may be looking at OA. There is no know cause for it, although there does seem to be a family correlation.

RA is basically your immune system attacking your body. Tests and assessment can establish how aggressive the disease is.

If you believe you may have RA, go to your doctor asap and get referred to a rheumatologist. If the wait list is too long, question if there is an early RA clinic you can go to. RA is one disease where you can hope for remission if you get treated really early, before joint hurt is done.

The most well loved physician website is http://www.rheuminfo.com. You may also consider looking at http://www.arthritis.ca. http://www.arthritisU.com is another excellent overall learning site for physicians.

If you do have RA, lead your treatment. What I mean by that is know what “progression” feels like and be quick to switch treatments if the one you are on doesn’t work really well. Some of the best treatments are only used after other, less effective treatments have disastrous. This is because of the nature of how the FDA and other governement organizations approve drug use and not necessarily reflective of the level of efficacy of a drug.

There is also a small correlation between RA and some cancers.

Hope that helps!