LETTER: A clarification about rheumatoid arthritis

In the Daily Inter Lake’s Aug. 4 article about Montana Arthritis Program classes, there was a reference that “Rheumatoid arthritis also affects many younger people.”

It’s good to see Kalispell health centers including more classes from the Montana Arthritis Program. I’ve participated in some or have purchased DVDs from the foundation over the years and have found the programs to be helpful and fun.

Ryan Murray’s article is good, but the term “rheumatoid arthritis” deserves some explanation. The symptoms of osteoarthritis (commonly called “arthritis”) and rheumatoid arthritis are somewhat similar in that they both affect joints, but importantly, the diseases are also very different.

Although osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, and both it and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be painful, degenerative, and debilitating, RA is an autoimmune disease and osteoarthritis is not. An autoimmune disease is a condition where the body’s immune system attacks the good guys — not only the joints but also the synovium (the tissue that lines the inside of the joints).

As explained in the Arthritis Foundation website (www.arthritis.org) and other reliable sites, RA is also a systemic disease. In other words, it can attack the entire body, “such as the cardiovascular or respiratory systems.”

  According to the Arthritis Foundation, “Arthritis is not a single disease... There are more than 100 different types of arthritis and related conditions.” Those who have not experienced or witnessed any of those other types are not likely to understand the scope of the term “arthritis.” Understanding could make life better for someone you love who has one or more forms of arthritis afflictions. —Shirley Rorvik, Kalispell