Is it possible that people with no swelling in their joints to have rheumatoid arthritis?
Friday, July 30th, 2010 at
5:04 pm
Kavi asked:
Do all the people who has been diagnosed for rheumatoid arthritis had swelling in some of their joints?
Do all the people who has been diagnosed for rheumatoid arthritis had swelling in some of their joints?
Tagged with: Arthritis • Joints • People
Filed under: Arthritis
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No. It is the general rule, but not always. Over 80% of juvenile cases don’t.
“Less than 20% of juvenile rhumatoid arthritis cases begin with fever and swelling in the joints, arthritis rash, swollen lymph nodes, GIT or gastrointestinal track disease, liver disease (non-infectious hepatitis), and a swollen spleen.
For these children, flu-like symptoms may precede the onset of the arthritis for months to years.
The child’s temperature may spike just over 100 F once or twice daily, often in the late afternoon or evening and then it quickly returns to normal. Chills are common. These children can be apparently well between attacks of fever.”
And adults can have rheumatoid arthritis a long time before swelling appears. “For most people, joint symptoms develop gradually
There are actually many symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, including fever, dry eyes, dry mouth, and fatigue. Often, these symptoms will be noticed first, but ultimately rheumatoid arthritis does result in some swelling.
One thing to keep in mind when dealing with arthritis is that there are over a hundred different types of arthritis, many of which share similar symptoms with rheumatoid arthritis. Of those, most cases are either osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
I have rheumatoid arthritis, and I didn’t have any swelling in the beginning.
Granted, no one would diagnose me with RA until I did have swelling.
Especially in the beginning, and even now, I occasionally get pain that is not associated with swelling. So particularly if your symptoms are new, they might/ might not involve into visible inflammation. Also keep in mind that some inflammation isn’t visible.