Infusion centers and home infusion services, like those we offer at Paragon, are often used to treat rare conditions, but that isn’t always the case. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a relatively common condition, affecting around 24.5 million people according to a 2015 study. With approximately .5 to 1 percent of the developed world’s adult population affected, there is a good chance that you know somebody, likely several people, affected by rheumatoid arthritis, and it’s a condition we can treat in many different ways through home infusion or an infusion center.

Due to its similarity, in name only, to osteoarthritis, the two are commonly confused. Although it manifests most commonly as joint pain, particularly in the extremities, rheumatoid arthritis isn’t actually a disorder of the joints at all, but rather a disorder of the immune system.

Thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors, rheumatoid arthritis causes the immune system to attack the connective and soft tissues in the body’s joints. Over time, this immune reaction inflames those tissues, leading to swelling and pain. The body tries to fight this by creating new connections between cells in your joint tissue, but this only leads to further stiffness and an overall loss of mobility in the joint.

Rheumatoid arthritis can also seriously affect other systems in your body. RA can lead to the formation of rheumatoid nodules, or fibrous growths of tissue near the affected joint and sometimes visible near the surface of the skin.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients are more prone to various heart and circulatory issues, including damaged blood vessels and an increased risk of heart attack or stroke – for those whose heart is affected by their RA, the signs of a heart attack may also be different.

The chronic inflammation common with rheumatoid arthritis can also lead to raised levels of the protein hepcidin, which regulates the body’s uptake and retention of iron. The resulting poor absorption of iron can cause potentially dangerous anemia.

The list continues: rheumatoid arthritis can increase a person’s risk for kidney tissue damage, dry eyes and loss of vision, carpal tunnel syndrome and other neurological issues related to joints and movement, brittle bones near affected joints, and even an increased risk of gum disease.

What can you do about it?

If the baseline symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis weren’t enough, its effects on systems throughout your body show just how important treatment and management of the disease can be. For many, effective treatment is the difference between a life of constant pain and immobility versus the ability to manage symptoms, fight the disease’s progression and enjoy the activities you care about.

Here at Paragon, through our comfortable and patient-centered infusion centers or through our Home Infusion service, we offer several different therapies to treat rheumatoid arthritis, including:

• Actemra
• Cimzia
• Orencia
• Remicade
• Rituxan
• Simponi ARIA

When you and your physician determine a RA treatment that will work for you, you can count on your Paragon Infusion Center or the home infusion process to be as simple and comfortable as possible. Our dedicated teams will make sure you understand your treatment and everything it entails, and will focus on your comfort and excellence of care. Find a location near you at https://paragonhealthcare.com/locations or ask your physician how Paragon Infusion Centers or Home Infusion could be an important part of your rheumatoid arthritis treatment.