Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis is a systemic disease, which may cause inflammatory changes throughout the soft tissues of the body, not just the joints.
The cause of Rheumatoid Arthritis:
It is believed that Rheumatoid Arthritis is the result of our immune system mistakenly identifying the soft tissue membranes within the joints (the synovial membranes) as foreign bodies. This results in an inflammatory response by our body, as our immune system tries to defend the joints by destroying these protective synovial membranes. The synovial membranes are composed of connective tissue, so the immune system may turn against other connective tissue structures and organs, thus possibly affecting the entire body.