Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is recognised to be an autoimmune disease that causes preclinical systemic abnormalities and eventually leads to synovial inflammation and destruction of the joint architecture. Our understanding of this chronic inflammatory disease has evolved considerably during the past decade. Introduction of novel therapeutic strategies has had a major impact not only on how we treat affected patients but also on how we conceptualise the disease process itself.