Do you know someone who has been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis?

I don’t know anyone who has it, but I know a little bit about it since it’s an autoimmune disease (in the same class of conditions that I have).

With RA as with most autoimmune diseases, there is a flare/remission cycle. When a patient is in a flare-up, her symptoms become more painful, and her joints can incur long-term damage. Catching it early is helpful in the sense that hopefully it has been caught before much long-term damage has been incurred. After diagnosis, medication can be used to help the patient stay in remission, in order to minimize further damage. But flares still happen even to people who have a diagnosis and are being treated, so the patient should pay close attention to her symptoms and see her rheumatologist at the first sign of trouble.

A history of RA in your close relatives is a risk factor for you getting RA yourself.

Thanks for your response @Mariah. It turns out to be something different than it was initially thought of to be possible RI. Apparently the symptoms were due to accute deficiency of Vitamin D. I’m not sure if that’s as bad since reason for the deficiency is yet to be discovered.