Why is my rheumatoid arthritis getting worse?
Rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that wreaks havoc on the joints, not only affects the patient’s body, but also can have a bad effect on the mental state.
Many people think that it is no less harmful than cancer, so rheumatoid arthritis is also called “immortal cancer”. Although rheumatoid arthritis does not directly affect the patient’s life, it can cause joint deformities that seriously affect the quality of life.
In clinical practice, we also see that many patients in the early stage of the disease is not serious, but for various reasons, the condition gradually worsened, and the joint stiffness deformity quickly appeared, which is a pity.
So what are the causes of rheumatoid arthritis worsening?
- The age of onset is small and the number of swollen joints is large
Current research has found that the earlier the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the more swollen and painful the number of joints involved, the more stubborn the condition.
The process of rheumatoid arthritis disease development is the process of joint ankylosis deformity, for young patients, rheumatoid arthritis disease course is long, the damage to the joint time is correspondingly longer, the condition is more complex. If the number of swollen joints is larger, the degree of inflammation caused is also heavier, which can also aggravate the progression of the disease.
- Rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP antibody titers are particularly high
Current studies have found that patients with high titers of rheumatoid factors and anti-CCP antibodies have complex rheumatoid arthritis conditions, and joint damage caused by bone erosion is more obvious, and it is easy to be accompanied by multi-system damage such as lung interstitial disease.
- High ESR and C-reactive protein, accompanied by systemic symptoms such as fever
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are disease activity indicators of rheumatoid arthritis, and the higher the level of the two, the more serious the inflammation degree and the more complex the disease. At this time, it is also more likely to be combined with fever, fatigue, weight loss and other systemic symptoms.
- Low dose hormone therapy is not effective
Hormones are still an important drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. For rheumatoid arthritis patients with poor effects of conventional slow action anti-rheumatic drugs, the addition of small doses of hormones can mostly rapidly reduce inflammation in the short term, prevent joint deformation or important organ function damage. However, if the effect of small doses of hormones is not good, or long-term need for large doses of hormones to maintain the efficacy of rheumatoid arthritis patients, more than suggest that their disease is complex and stubborn.
- Stop taking the drug by yourself and do not follow the doctor’s advice
In fact, the most common cause of deterioration of rheumatoid arthritis is that patients stop taking drugs on their own and do not follow medical advice. Many patients fear the adverse reactions of drugs, or worry about lifelong medication, stop taking drugs on their own, do not follow medical advice, and even look around for so-called “miracle drugs”, “secret recipes”, “folk remedies”, resulting in rheumatoid arthritis in the disease activity period for a long time, miss the best treatment period, resulting in deterioration of the disease, irreversible damage to the joints, it is a pity.
It can be seen that there are many reasons for the deterioration of rheumatoid arthritis, including the causes of the disease itself and the patient’s own reasons.
Under the current level of medical conditions, as long as the systematic standard treatment can be adhered to, even if there are many adverse factors, the condition of rheumatoid arthritis can be controlled in a better degree, but the premise must be to comply with the treatment plan formulated by the rheumatologist and follow the doctor’s advice.