by Lauren Taylor from In The Cloud Copy

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects a patient’s joints, in addition to causing damage to the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels. It is an autoimmune condition that occurs when the body attacks its own healthy tissue. Whereas osteoarthritis causes damage due to wear-and-tear, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of the joints, leading to swelling that can lead to bone erosions and deformity. This inflammation is what causes the damage in other parts of the body. Patients may be prescribed biologics or disease-modifying treatments to treat their RA symptoms. These work by suppressing the immune system to prevent RA symptoms that are caused by the faulty response from the patient’s immune system.

While there are treatment options available, there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis. Patients typically have to take medications every day to keep symptoms at bay. Symptoms can range from fatigue, fever, joint stiffness, and tender, warm, or swollen joints. Patients will often experience flare-ups of disease in which they experience increasing joint stiffness, pain, fatigue, and other flu-like symptoms. Flares can be caused by stress, weather, infections, and too much activity. When a patient experiences a flare-up, they may be out of their normal day-to-day routine for weeks or months.

RA flare-ups are typically treated symptomatically. Patients can try varying therapies from hot or cold therapy, OTC pain meds, rest, reducing stress, gentle exercise, and speaking with their doctor. If symptoms are not managed simply by OTC medications, a patient may need further treatment with physician-prescribed steroids.

Predicting Rheumatoid Arthritis Flare-Ups with a Finger Stick

Historically, patients have had no way of predicting when an RA flare up may occur. They may be hit with symptoms suddenly and with very little warning, ultimately interfering with and disrupting their everyday life. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine is trying to change that. The studied looked at preinflammatory mesenchymal cells or PRIME cells that are present in a patient’s bloodstream prior to a flare up.

The study was small-scale, only studying four RA patients over a one to four-year span. The patients were given equipment to take at-home blood samples using a small finger stick, that was sent in for testing and lab analysis, while they also kept track of their symptoms leading up to their flare-ups.

What researchers found was that the PRIME cells would start accumulating in the patient’s bloodstream about a week before they experienced the pain of an RA flare up. The PRIME cells would then decrease during the flare. In the long-term, researchers would like to see this test have a reliability and consistency so that patients could test weekly at home and be prepared for a flare-up. While tracking symptoms they can start to look for their own personal triggers for flare-ups to try to better prevent and prepare for them in the future.

The hope is to conduct more studies on larger numbers of RA patients in the future and eventually make this testing commercially available for all patients living with RA.

Check out the study here.

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