What is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most debilitating type of arthritis because it can cause deformity and disability. It is an autoimmune disease, meaning that the body’s immune system turns against itself and attacks healthy tissues. RA affects mostly the joints, and in the spine, RA usually affects the joints in the neck (cervical spine). What causes RA? The medical community hasn’t pinpointed the exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although they have some leads, including: • heredity: RA can’t be inherited, but researchers have noticed that a certain genetic marker, HLA-DR4, is often present in people who develop RA. However, the presence of this genetic marker doesn’t guarantee the development of RA. • gender: Women are three times more likely to develop RA than men. • infection: Some researchers think that something such as an infection has to happen to “turn on” the effects of RA (to cause the immune system to turn against itself). They aren’t sure exactly what that is, but t
