Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be

talking to you about rheumatoid arthritis. And you can find written notes on this topic at

zero to finals.com slash r a or in the rheumatology section of the second edition of the zero to finals medicine book.

So let's get straight into it.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition that causes chronic inflammation in the

sinovial lining of the joints, tendon sheaths and bursa.

It's a type of inflammatory arthritis.

Cynovial inflammation is called synovitis.

Inflammation of the tendons increases the risk of tendon rupture.

Rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect multiple small joints

symmetrically across both sides of the body.

This pattern is described as symmetrical polyarthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is around two to three times more common in women than in

men. It most often develops in middle age, but it can present at any age. Smoking and obesity

are risk factors. A family history increases the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, although there's no clear

inheritance pattern.

The most common gene associated with rheumatoid arthritis is HLA DR4.

The disease course varies between patients, from mild and remitting to severe and progressive.

Disease activity, positive antibodies and erosions on an x-ray predict worse disease.

Let's talk about antibodies.

Rheumatoid factor is an auto-antibody present in around 70% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rumatoid factor targets the FC portion of the immunoglobulin G.

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