Rheumatoid arthritis name originated from the Greeks. The Greek name for Rheumatoid is actually Rheumatos which means flowing. The suffix –oid stands for resembling. At first rheumatos was associated with rheumatic fever, an illness described as a throat infection that includes joint pain. Therefore, when you add the prefix and suffix you get the definition of a condition involving inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis got its name because it resembles rheumatic fever. The first description of rheumatoid arthritis is seen in a painting nearly more than a century before Landre-Beauvais described it in detailed in 1800.

Most people associate rheumatoid arthritis to pain and physical limitations because millions of people suffering from this disease all face pain and physical limitations. People who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis usually end up with deformed joints, making the simplest activities undoable, because of the difficulty to manage the pain.

It is unexplainable why rheumatoid arthritis is two to three times more likely to occur in women than in men. A person is generally strike with this condition between the age of 20 and 50. However, rheumatoid is very uncommon in children but it is still probable to occur in children under the age of 16. It is also common for smokers to develop rheumatoid arthritis compared to non – smokers. Finally, family history plays an importance in a person risk to developing rheumatoid arthritis. Although the causes for rheumatoid arthritis are unknown it has been suspected for a long time that it is an infectious disease and might be due to food allergies or outside organisms.

Currently there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, but there are many treatments that can be used. With the right treatment, a person suffering from rheumatoid arthritis can live a very long and productive life.