World Arthritis Day is observed on October 12, every year since 1996. World Arthritis Day is observed to raise awareness about Arthritis around the world. The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis. Other forms include gout, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and lupus. RA is a systemic inflammatory disease that is characterized by a progressive and disabling course. The prevalence of RA is 0.5-1%, with a woman to man ratio of 3:1. It is 4 to 5 times higher in women under 50 years, but after 60 years the ratio becomes approximately 2 to 1. People with rheumatoid arthritis often have an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, also known as sed rate) or C-reactive protein (CRP) level, which may indicate the presence of an inflammatory process in the body. Other common blood tests look for rheumatoid factor (FR) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies. Systemic manifestations and complications of RA - including pulmonary, cardiovascular, neurological, and musculoskeletal involvements; glucocorticoid (GC)-induced osteoporosis (GIOP); and infection - which have significant impacts on the disease outcomes, occur in approximately 40% of patients. With the increasing recognition of RA and development of novel treatment strategies, early diagnosis and prompt treatment may result in some patients achieving remission status or low disease activity. RA patients with systemic manifestations or complications should be treated and monitored more aggressively to reduce their risk of mortality.

YHLO provides one-stop RA screening for early diagnosis and timely treatment to prevent future problems.

Reference
[1] Intriago M, Maldonado G, Cárdenas J, et al. Clinical characteristics in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: differences between genders[J]. The Scientific World Journal, 2019, 2019.
[2] Kim J W, Suh C H. Systemic Manifestations and Complications in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis[J]. 2020.

#Arthritis #RheumatoidArthritis #Diagnostics #Serology #ESR #CRP #RF #Anti-CCP