The study conducted at University Hospital in Umea revealed that early detection of the disease might help patients avoid the pain and damage leading to joint replacement.
“These findings present the opportunity for better predicting the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis and, therefore, possibly preventing disease progression,” said lead researcher Dr. Solbritt Rantapaa-Dahlqvist.
Details of the study
The research team compared blood samples of 86 patients, taken before they even developed the symptoms of RA, to blood samples of 256 people who did not have the disease.
The researchers found that proteins like cytokines and chemokines secreted by cells in the immune system
were present in high levels in the blood of the patients, before they developed the symptoms of RA.
The team also established that the amount of these proteins increased when the symptoms turned into matured rheumatoid arthritis.
“We welcome the publication of this study, which adds to the growing body of evidence that people who go on to develop rheumatoid arthritis could be identified before symptoms develop,” said a spokesman for the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society.
The spokesman added, “This is important because early diagnosis and treatment we know from other research is hugely beneficial in stopping people going on to suffer disability or need a joint replaced.”
Diagnosis of RA
An estimated 6,00,000 people in Britain suffer from autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis-- a chronic disorder that leads to joint inflammation in the synovial (lubricating fluid of the joints) tissue that results in the degradation of cartilage and bone.
RA is an inflammatory disease that might as well affect other tissues and organs apart from the joints and result in extreme pain and immobilization.
Identifying the disease can be hard as the symptoms may be originally placid. In the initial stages, it can look like other diseases such as lupus-- disease of the connective tissues of the body that protect the organs, and osteoarthritis-- disease that destructs the joints, articular cartilage and the connecting bone.
But reports reveal that a premature identification and treatment of RA lessens the chances of joint replacement, which otherwise remains the ultimate solution if the disease continues to progress.
The details of the study appear in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
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