Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is generally characterized by pain, arising from an inflammation of the affected joints. This is what actually happens.

A joint, in our body, is the location where two bones meet end to end. Examples are the elbow joint, knee joint, etc. Beneath the skin covering the joint, is the joint capsule. This capsule protects the joint and also provides it support. The ends of the two bones meeting in the joint are covered by cartilage and soft tissue cushions.

The lining of a joint capsule has a kind of tissue called the synovium, or the synovial membrane. The synovial membrane secretes the synovial fluid to keep the bone ends as well as the cartilage lubricated.

Joints are attacked by Rheumatoid Arthritis

When a person has rheumatoid arthritis, his immune system attacks the different components inside his joint capsules. The attack can be at one joint, or across different joints in the body. The immune cells cause a reaction in the synovial membrane.

This condition is called synovitis, and this is what causes the swelling and the pain that is seen in rheumatoid arthritis. While all this is happening, the synovial membrane becomes thicker through unusual proliferation of the synovial cells. This is what causes the swelling in the affected joint(s).

Changes can be progressive

Over time, the changes are not restricted to the synovial membrane alone; the articular structures, as well as the collagen fibers of the mesenchyma tissue are also affected. The collagen fibers are seen to degenerate, causing erosion sometimes of the bone in the joint.

This results in a thinning of the bone structure as well as atrophy. The end result is usually severe pain in the joints, and can lead to deformities as well.

Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis

The causes of rheumatoid arthritis are still unknown. There is a lot of research happening currently to find out the exact cause, as determining the cause can help in determining a complete solution, but there are still a lot of grey areas. There have been a lot of assumptions and generalized possibilities have been determined, but nothing specific has emerged as yet.

However a few factors have been identified. These are:

• Genetic factor
• Hormonal factors
• Environmental factors

Genetic factors

In some cases, rheumatoid arthritis has been found to be hereditary, i.e. there is a genetic angle to the disease. However, this is only in some cases. What has been determined is that one gene alone is not responsible for a person to have rheumatoid arthritis; it is usually a combination of two or more genes.

Hormonal factors

Some scientists think that rheumatoid arthritis can be caused by hormonal imbalance in the body - the presence in excess or deficiency of certain hormones in a person with a genetic susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis may help trigger the disease.

Environmental factors

There is also a school of thought that believes rheumatoid arthritis is caused by certain bacteria or viruses yet unknown. However, they have ascertained one thing - rheumatoid arthritis cannot spread from one person to another, unlike other diseases with bacterial or viral carriers, such as a common cold or fever.

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