What remedies can help with swollen joints?
It sounds as though you may be suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, or perhaps a similar condition. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory condition characterised by inflammation in the joints of the fingers, toes, wrists or other joints of the body. The affected joints become swollen and stiff and may become deformed in the long term. The disease usually comes in waves, with painful periods being interspersed with times where sufferers are relatively symptom-free. The disease usually starts in early adulthood or middle age but can sometimes start it childhood. RA affects two to three per cent of the population and about 75 per cent of sufferers are women. RA is what is known as an ‘autoimmune’ disease. Here, the immune system mounts an immune response against the body’s own tissues causing inflammation and diseased tissue. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, the part of the body that is affected is the tissue that lines the joints known as the ‘synovium’. While the cause of rhe
