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Rheumatoid arthritis can be very aggressive as it is a systemic disease, so it can have many complications. You can certainly have joint dislocation, joint swelling, and you can have swelling of the wrist that could cause some carpal tunnel type symptoms. You can have an effect of your spine, which causes instability of your spinal cord. Because rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease, you’re at a risk for heart disease. Rheumatoid arthritis patients develop atherosclerosis almost 10 years earlier than somebody without rheumatoid arthritis. One of the leading causes of death is the high risk of cardiovascular disease with rheumatoid arthritis. So it’s really important to get proper treatment for the disease. Rheumatoid arthritis patients can also have lung disease, ILD, nodules in their lungs. So really every system of the body can be affected. So it’s really important to see your doctor and keep up with the blood work.
