The rheumatoid arthritis test

October 29, 12:53 AMRheumatoid Arthritis ExaminerTiffany Westrich

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This article has been edited from it's original publication.

Imagine you are talking to someone and they say, "I was just diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis".    From the images below, choose the faces that would most likely make that statement.

1.         2.           3.   

4.              5.        6.  

If you picked #2, 3 and 4, you are correct!  These would be most likely to say this statement because typical onset is between the ages of 20 and 40, however there is also a prominent strand of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and it can be diagnosed at any adult age.

If you picked #1, 5 or 6, although Rheumatoid Arthritis CAN BE diagnosed at any age, it is less likely they were just diagnosed because of the typical young age onset. 

Rheumatoid Arthritis is NOT "arthritis", or joint pain brought on typically by aging, wear and tear and injury.  It IS an autoimmune disease caused by the body attacking its' own healthy cells, resulting in deterioration of joints, connective and soft tissue.  It also is paired with extreme fatigue, occasional nausea and fevers, muscle aches and pain as well as a variety of other symptoms.  

We aspire to broaden the understanding of RA.  Perhaps by understanding autoimmune arthritis is typically* a younger disease, just as wear and tear arthritis is typically* an older age disease, this will help alleviate the misunderstandings associated with it.  It is not a wear and tear condition and those diagnosed at all ages must constantly deal with explaining what they have. 

So, if someone says, "I was just diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis", for those 40 and younger, we hope they stop experiencing the common response, "Oh, but you're too young to have arthritis!" , brought on due to lack of knowledge about the disease and typical age of onset.   And for those who are diagnosed over the age of 40, we aim to dissolve the assumption that what they have must be the wear and tear strand. 

Please forward this quiz to anyone who may think that "arthritis" and "rheumatoid arthritis" is the same.  It's time they understood.

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*typically- typically defined for the purpose of this article refers to the average age of diagnosis for different arthritis based conditions.  Typically, Rheumatoid Arthritis is diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40 but can occur at any age, even infancy.  Typically, Osteoarthritis, usually brought on by wear and tear or injury, is usually diagnosed over the age of 55.  However, it can also occur in any age, including childhood.  We stress "typically" in an attempt to re-brand what Rheumatoid Arthritis is.  By focusing on the average age of onset, we feel it will force society to see it is a separate condition than that experienced by the common understanding of the term 'arthritis'.