Have you ever felt like an ambassador for RA? Everywhere I go, I feel as if I must educate people about RA and what an autoimmune disease is. I was talking to another woman with RA recently, and she told me about how people would often ask her why she wore splints. And what do you think they’d said when she told them she had rheumatoid arthritis? “Oh, I have problems with my knees, too. I totally understand.” Ummmm…You don’t have RA. You may have arthritis, but totally not the same. Right?
How many of you have gone through this same dialogue with people you’ve told you have rheumatoid arthritis? My mom has actually recommended saying I have RA rather than rheumatoid arthritis so people don’t confuse it with regular arthritis. But I still feel that so many people don’t really understand RA. They don’t understand the symptoms, the side effects of the medications or how RA works.
But do we even understand the disease?
“RA is not a condition of wear and tear that occurs with aging or injury. It is a disease known as an “autoimmune” disease in which your own immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue, causing inflammation that damages your joints. Normally, the immune system fights against infections and keeps a person’s body healthy. However, in the case of RA, the immune system attacks cells in the joints, causing pain and swelling. Over time, people with RA often find that their joints are stiff and do not move properly, causing them considerable pain and discomfort” (RA.com).
I guess most of us know that, right? (If you don’t, talk to your rheumatologist. You need to understand the disease if you want to treat it.)
But why us? Why do we have this disease? There is still so much not known about why some people develop RA and others don’t.
“Scientists and doctors do not know why people develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, researchers are learning more every day. The latest scientific findings suggest that RA may be caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, or hormonal factors” (RA.com).
Soooo…pretty much anything can cause RA is what they are saying, right? At least that is how I read it. So frustrating.
I don’t know about you, but as someone who plans to have kids one day, I would like to know if I could pass this on to my kids. I mean, is there a way to prevent RA? I wish there was more information on the subject. Research suggests a viral or bacterial infection may be a trigger for the disease but that it is in combination with other factors such as genetics:
“Many scientists think that something must occur to trigger the disease process in people whose genetic makeup makes them susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis. A viral or bacterial infection appears likely, but the exact agent is not yet known. This does not mean that rheumatoid arthritis is contagious: a person cannot catch it from someone else” (about.com).
At least we know we can’t spread it by coughing on someone, right?
I hate how little is known about the cause of RA. As someone who is constantly explaining what RA is to people, I don’t like having this huge missing chunk of information. I know a lot of research is being done about RA and there have been ground breaking drugs such a biologics found to treat RA. But there is still no answers for many questions I have. I believe that we won’t be able to find a cure until we know what causes RA (NOTE: There are currently treatments for RA, but no cure. Just like with cancer and many other autoimmune diseases).
If any of you readers have stories about people’s reactions when you told them you have Rheumatoid Arthritis, please share! I’d love to hear about how you have educated others on the disease!
Until next time,
S.P.
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