Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. In autoimmune diseases, our immune system, which normally reacts to microbes, viruses, foreign bodies and removes them, begins to react against and damage its own tissues. This attack of the immune system takes the form of an inflammatory reaction. While the immune system reacts to the foreign body in the body, it stops responding when this body is inactivated. However, in autoimmune diseases such as RA, the inflammatory state that continues due to the immune system’s response is long-lasting (chronic), generally continuing throughout life. Different autoimmune diseases affect different tissues. The most affected tissues in rheumatoid arthritis are the joints.
The genes passed on to you from your parents do not alone cause you to develop RA, but they do cause you to be at a higher risk of developing RA than other individuals.
Does weather affect RA?
Some individuals with rheumatoid arthritis report that their complaints increase in cold and/or humid weather. However, cold weather does not cause RA to occur or cause the disease to progress more severely.
