Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition which causes a disabled life for many. Although there is such a condition known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, this condition is most common in women beginning in the mid-forties or so, and is first noticed from continuous morning pain and stiffness as well as swelling in the fingers and other small joints...

What is rheumatism? Though it is a very non-specific type of term, it refers to painful disorders that can affect your loco-motor system such as your bones, joint regions, soft tissues, connective tissues, muscles and joints. It may also apply to a specific condition that affects your heart valves. Most often, though, it makes reference to varied disorders, including systemic lupus erythematosus, gout, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis.

While rheumatoid arthritis primarily affects joints, problems involving other organs of the body are known to occur. Extra – articular (“outside the joints”) manifestations other than anemia (which is very common) are clinically evident in about 15–25% of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis.