autoimmune disease blog

Women are 3 times more likely to get rheumatoid arthritis than men. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, a condition where the immune system attacks healthy tissue. The exact cause is still unknown. But in a recent study, an experimental drug showed promising signs of blocking the disease in lab rat.

Harris Perlman is a medical researcher at Northwestern University in Illinois, says that, normally a protein in healthy immune cells causes the cells to die after they attack an invading bacteria or virus. But in rheumatoid arthritis patient, the protein is missing in some immune cells. Instead, the protein accumulates in the joints and cause inflammation in cartilage and bone.

Professor Perlman developed what he calls a suicide molecule. It acts like the protein that directs cells to self-destruct. He says the suicide molecule halted and even reduced rheumatoid arthritis in seventy-five percent of the mice in the study. He believes the treatment could also work in people.

Current treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can reduce pain, but they do not work for everyone. They also have side effects such as an increased risk of infection. Harris Perlman says the new treatment produced no major side effects in the mice.

The study appeared earlier this year in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism. Arthritis is not a single disease. The MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, a United States government website, says there are more than one hundred different kinds. Arthritis produces pain, swelling and limited movement in one or more joints. It involves the breakdown of cartilage. Joints need cartilage for smooth movement and to absorb shock when you put pressure on a joint.

Arthritis can be caused by injury, infection, an autoimmune disease or just long-term use. Some forms are curable, others are not. Some autoimmune forms of arthritis, if not treated, may cause joints to become deformed.

The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, is more likely to affect older people. It most commonly affects the hips, knees or fingers. Overweight people have a higher risk of osteoarthritis. Other risk factors are repeatedly putting stress on a joint or having an earlier injury.

A physical therapist can design an individualized exercise program to reduce arthritis pain and support healthy joints. Getting plenty of sleep, reducing stress and eating a diet high in vitamins and minerals can also help.

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