Spotlight: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease (a disease where the immune system attacks itself), which manifests itself through swollen and painful joints. The word ‘rheumatoid' derives from the Greek word ‘rheuma' meaning ‘a discharge from the body' and the arthritis comes from the Greek ‘arthron' meaning a joint. The disease can be traced back to the age of the dinosaurs and to prehistoric man. Reference to arthritis is also found in texts dating back as far as 4500 BC. Signs of RA have also been found in the skeletons of Native Americans and to this day, Native Americans seem...