‘Do I Have Rheumatoid Arthritis?’ Take the Quiz

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune illness that causes your physique’s immune system to assault its personal tissues. It causes irritation in joints and different areas, which might result in ache, stiffness, and decreased flexibility and mobility.

Rheumatoid arthritis is the commonest kind of autoimmune-related arthritis. It’s estimated that about 1.3 million adults in the US (0.6-1% of the grownup inhabitants) have RA.

There’s no treatment for RA, however drugs and life-style modifications can assist you handle the situation. Receiving a analysis and correct therapy early can assist stop joint injury, handle ache, and keep away from additional issues.

A quiz can’t diagnose you with rheumatoid arthritis, however it may possibly make it easier to determine for those who ought to make an appointment with a healthcare supplier. Undecided for those who ought to speak to a supplier about your signs or threat elements? Take this quiz.

This quiz is for anybody who suspects they’ve RA signs. Though RA can occur at any age, it normally develops in individuals aged 30-50.

In the event you haven’t seen a healthcare supplier about your signs earlier than, you should use this quiz that can assist you determine whether or not or not you must start the dialog.

For many who have talked to a healthcare supplier and have further questions or felt dismissed, the quiz can assist you determine if you wish to search out a rheumatologist (a health care provider who focuses on arthritis and might greatest diagnose and deal with RA).

This quiz was developed in partnership with Anita C. Chandrasekaran, MD, a rheumatologist at Hartford Healthcare Medical Group in Connecticut and a member of Well being.com’s Medical Knowledgeable Board.

The questions on this quiz are based mostly on the commonest indicators and signs of rheumatoid arthritis. The quiz additionally asks about identified threat elements linked to growing RA.

RA signs have an effect on a number of joints and might come and go. If you expertise RA signs, it’s referred to as a flare. The situation impacts individuals in another way. For some individuals, stress or environmental elements can set off flares. Others might not know what causes their signs to worsen.

Early indicators of RA might embody:

• Stiff joints upon waking that enhance after a couple of hours or over the course of the day
• Ache within the small joints of your fingers and toes
• Joint ache and/or swelling that lasts for longer than six weeks

Afterward, frequent signs embody:

• Joint ache, whether or not you are resting or transferring
• Tenderness, swelling, or a heat feeling in a number of joints
• Bother doing every day actions (opening containers, buttoning garments, straightening arms, or bending knees) due to joint ache or swelling
• Tiredness or low vitality
• Low fever
• Lack of urge for food

Issues

Different signs and circumstances that RA could cause or contribute to incorporate:

• Anemia
• Neck ache
• Lumps beneath the pores and skin referred to as rheumatoid nodules (normally on the fingers and elbows)
• Dry eyes
• Dry mouth
• Irritation in blood vessels, lungs, or coronary heart
• Lung illness 

Researchers nonetheless don’t know precisely what causes RA. Some theories counsel the next elements can play a job:

• Genetics: Sure genes can have an effect on how your immune system works and make it extra probably so that you can develop RA.
• Environmental elements: Belongings you’re uncovered to in every day life, like cigarette smoke, would possibly act as a set off for RA in individuals whose genes already improve their RA threat. Different exterior elements, like publicity to micro organism and viruses, might contribute to the event of RA.
• Intercourse: Folks assigned feminine at delivery are two to a few occasions extra probably than these assigned male at delivery to develop RA. Researchers imagine hormones might play a job.

Threat Components for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Whereas researchers don’t know the reason for RA, some elements can improve your threat of growing it. These threat elements embody:

• Intercourse: Folks assigned feminine at delivery usually tend to develop RA.
• Age: Whilst you can develop RA at any age, most individuals begin having signs between the ages of 30 and 50. The age group thought of most in danger is 50-59.
• Publicity to cigarette smoke: Some analysis reveals that being uncovered to cigarette smoke as a toddler due to the smoking habits of these round you might improve the chance of RA.

To obtain an RA analysis, a rheumatologist sometimes wants to look at you. They might do the next:

• Bodily examination
• Blood exams
• X-rays
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound
• Well being and household historical past evaluate

Indicators you must see a healthcare supplier about RA embody the next: 

• You’ve got joint ache that interferes with every day life and your capability to carry out common bodily actions, like opening containers or bending.
• You’re feeling ache or swelling in joints, like your fingers and toes, for longer than six weeks.
• You expertise different regarding signs, like bother respiratory.