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General Treatment Aspects

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Biologics for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is almost invariably associated with significant symptomatology. In the early stages of the disease, joint pain and stiffness are the dominant symptoms, but patients also frequently experience general symptoms due to the systemic inflammatory state. Extreme fatigue and lassitude, and even slight fever and profound weight loss are not unusual at this stage. The musculoskeletal symptoms may already in the earlier phase engender significant functional impairment and restriction of activities which are, however, still reversible. At later stages of the disease, inflammatory symptoms may continue to be severe but in contrast to more benign musculoskeletal conditions RA has the potential to cause severe and irreversible damage to the anatomical structures of the joints as well. Thus, erosions and other damage to the bony surfaces of the joints, and cartilage break-down are hallmarks of the disease that when advanced are easily recognized on plain radiographs, but that may at even earlier stages be detected through more sensitive imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound.

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  1. Unit for Clinical Therapy Research, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ronald F. van Vollenhoven

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van Vollenhoven, R.F. (2016). General Treatment Aspects. In: Biologics for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Adis, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13108-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13108-5_2

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  • Publisher Name: Adis, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-13108-5

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