{"id":2636,"date":"2024-09-16T08:27:37","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T12:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/rmrlab\/?page_id=2636"},"modified":"2024-12-23T11:52:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T16:52:54","slug":"about-rheumatoid-arthritis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/rmrlab\/prevail-exercise-resource\/about-rheumatoid-arthritis\/","title":{"rendered":"About Rheumatoid Arthritis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>What is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"TextRun SCXW54052454 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW54052454 BCX8\">RA<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW54052454 BCX8\"> is an autoimmune<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW54052454 BCX8\">, inflammatory arthritis that <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW54052454 BCX8\">affects your whole body.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW54052454 BCX8\" data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>To learn more about it you can find our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/rmrlab\/prevail-exercise-resource\/about-rheumatoid-arthritis\/#learnaboutRA\">RA resources linked below.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"TextRun SCXW138178843 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW138178843 BCX8\">What are the common signs and symptoms of RA?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">RA commonly affects your joints with pain, tenderness, swelling, and stiffness. Symptoms often occur in the same joint on both sides of your body, and the most common places affected are the hands, knees, or ankles.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Other common signs and symptoms include fatigue and weakness.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">There may be times when your symptoms get worse (flares), and times when your\u202fsymptoms are better (remission).\u202f<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Do I Best Manage My RA?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The current clinical guidelines recommend active medical management with a rheumatologist to minimize your disease activity. The rheumatologist will monitor your disease and prescribe medications, including disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Together, you will find the best management plan for you.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Regular exercise is strongly recommended to improve physical function and reduce pain for adults with RA.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">To learn more about the benefits of exercise for RA, explore our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/rmrlab\/prevail-exercise-resource\/rheumatoid-arthritis-and-exercise\/why-does-exercise-matter\/\">&#8220;Why does exercise matter?&#8221; page<\/a>!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"TextRun SCXW49456160 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW49456160 BCX8\"><a id=\"learnaboutRA\"><\/a>Where can I learn more about my RA?<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW49456160 BCX8\" data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The following resources provide reputable and up-to-date information and resources about RA.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Resources:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:3600,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Courier New&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9675],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;o&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"5\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rheumatology.org\/patients\/rheumatoid-arthritis\">Information from the American College of Rheumatology<\/a>, with topics including signs and symptoms, common treatments, and a summary of living with RA<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:3600,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Courier New&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9675],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;o&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"5\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arthritis.org\/diseases\/rheumatoid-arthritis\">Information on RA from the Arthritis Foundation<\/a>, with topics including causes, symptoms and other health effects, diagnosis and treatment, and self-care<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:3600,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Courier New&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9675],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;o&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"5\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/arthritis\/rheumatoid-arthritis\/\">Information on RA from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)<\/a>, with topics including an overview on the impact of RA, signs and symptoms, risk for RA, diagnosis and treatment, and self-care<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:3600,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Courier New&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9675],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;o&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"5\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.niams.nih.gov\/health-topics\/rheumatoid-arthritis\">Information on RA from the National Institutes for Health (NIH) and the National Institutes for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)<\/a>, with topics including what happens in RA, who gets it, symptoms and causes, diagnosis, treatment, and steps to take, and new research progress and resources<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><a class=\"btn btn-default btn-lg  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/rmrlab\/prevail-exercise-resource\/how-was-our-model-developed\/\">Next page <i class=\"glyphicon glyphicon-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#007fae;\"><\/i><\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)? RA is an autoimmune, inflammatory arthritis that affects your whole body.\u00a0\u00a0 To learn more about it you can find our RA resources linked below. &nbsp; What are the common signs and symptoms of RA? RA commonly affects your joints with pain, tenderness, swelling, and stiffness. Symptoms often occur in the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/rmrlab\/prevail-exercise-resource\/about-rheumatoid-arthritis\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about About Rheumatoid Arthritis\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117304,"featured_media":0,"parent":2611,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2636","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About Rheumatoid Arthritis - Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Laboratory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/rmrlab\/prevail-exercise-resource\/about-rheumatoid-arthritis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About Rheumatoid Arthritis - Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Laboratory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)? 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