About
Hi and welcome to "So you have RA".
More than 50 million adults and 300,000 children have some type of arthritis. It is most common among women and occurs more frequently as people get older.
This website is dedicated to sharing information about living with Rheumatoid Arthritis, including ways that I've found to help make managing RA a little easier. Throughout the website I've pulled together information from reputable resources such as the Arthritis Foundation and Mayo Clinic.
What is RA? Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints. In some people, the condition can damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels.
RA vs. Osteoarthritis
RA is different that osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is arthritis that damages your joints, wearing them down. RA is an autoimmune disorder.
What does that mean? RA is the type of arthritis that means your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body's tissues.
Who am I? I was diagnosed with moderate to severe RA on June 1, 2015. Over the past several years I've learned a lot about RA and hope you find this the information on this website helpful.
Please note - this website is not a medical website. This is a website for sharing information related to living with this chronic illness and how If you find something useful that you want to try - great! Remember, before doing anything new, confer with your doctor.