Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Awareness Day – History, Facts and How to Observe Rheumatoid Awareness Day 2025

Started by the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Awareness Day is observed every year on the 2nd of February to raise awareness about this complex condition. Let’s learn more about it in this blog. It’s also important to consider a health insurance plan that covers RA treatment, ensuring proper care and support for those affected by the condition.

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease, which is caused when the natural defense system of your body can’t differentiate between the cell of your own body and the foreign cells.  Thus, the body under such conditions attacks your normal cells by mistake.

In the case of Rheumatoid Arthritis, the immune system of your body attacks your own tissues, including joints. In extreme cases, internal organs are also targeted. RA affects the joint linings of your body and causes painful swelling. It's essential to buy a health insurance policy that covers RA treatment and provides access to necessary medical care and medications for managing the condition.

In fact, among all the autoimmune conditions across the globe, the Rheumatoid Arthritis is said to be the most common condition. Further, to make things worse no cure is there for this disease.  However, the condition can be managed and taken care of by medication and care.

Hence, Rheumatoid Awareness Day aims to make more and more people aware of the disease and its dangers. Also, it further aware people about the ways in which they can fight the disease. So, let us learn the rheumatoid arthritis meaning in this post along with other details.

History of Rheumatoid Awareness Day

English Physician Sir Alfred B. Garrod in 1858 found the disease ‘Rheumatoid Arthritis’ and named it so, which was earlier thought to be Osteoarthritis. It was Garrod who indicated the differences between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Rheumatoid Patient Foundation was inaugurated in the year 2011 by patients of Rheumatoid who came together to form it. The organization aims at spreading awareness about Rheumatoid Arthritis and the available options of Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment. In the year 2013, the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation inaugurated the ‘Rheumatoid Awareness Day’ to inform people about the condition and to resolve misconceptions about it.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a disease that causes inflammation of joints and other body parts like bones. This is a chronic auto-immune disease where the immune system of your body attacks its own cells. This is among the main rheumatoid arthritis causes.

The condition can make your joint linings inflame or swell, which causes pain, bone erosion and other deformities, which are some of the rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. Further, Rheumatoid Arthritis could spread across the entire body of an affected person and can cause some serious problems.

The disease is said to cause issues in the other organs of the body such as kidneys, muscles, bones as well as heart.  Like other auto-immune diseases, there is no proper cure against Rheumatoid Arthritis. However, this condition can be managed with proper diet, medication and lifestyle.

How to Observe Rheumatoid Awareness Day?

To Observe the Rheumatoid Awareness Day, you can do certain things such as;

  • Organize health camps to diagnose the condition and create further awareness. You may work as a volunteer at the health camp to enhance awareness of the disease. Further, you can be a part of a campaign where you request people to join from your community
  • Educate yourself about the condition and how to limit it. Unless you have a complete understanding of the disease, you will not be able to spread awareness. Hence, the first step to create awareness is to educate yourselves. This way, you can pass on the helpful information to other people. Do some research on the latest updates and news about the disease to stay updated with recent developments about RA
  • Share messages on Social Media posts – social media is a huge entity these days. By sharing information about the various awareness programs on social media, you can inform increasing number of people about the disease.

Some Facts About Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Awareness Day 2025

  • There are many people across the world who are suffering from the condition of Rheumatoid Arthritis. In fact, in U.S. alone, over 1.5 million people are affected by R.A
  • Women are more susceptible to Rheumatoid Arthritis as compared to men. In fact, 2.5 times more often women than men are diagnosed with this disease globally
  • People who are more susceptible towards this disease are within the age group of 20 to 50 years
  • Worldwide, over 350 million people are suffering from the Rheumatoid Arthritis condition
  • Race also has a role to play among the patients of rheumatoid arthritis. It has been observed that multiracial groups, people of color, non-Hispanic whites, as well as Hispanics are the people who tend to have higher risks of arthritis-attributable activity.

 

To Conclude

Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Day

Rheumatoid Arthritis (R.A) can be monitored by a physician through various ways such as X-ray, scanning, blood test etc. It can also be monitored by accessing the strength of muscle of a patient. In fact, Rheumatoid Arthritis is a condition that is difficult to detect. However, it is better if it could be diagnosed early.

A positive Rheumatoid factor test is a diagnosis which confirms a high level of Rheumatoid Factor in the blood of the patient being diagnosed. If the result of this test indicates a higher level of Rheumatoid Factor, it means the patient is suffering from an autoimmune disease, called Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Rheumatology is a branch of modern medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders with common features like bone inflammation, as well as inflammation in muscles, joints, and other internal organs.

Author Bio

Paybima Team

Paybima is an Indian insurance aggregator on a mission to make insurance simple for people. Paybima is the Digital arm of the already established and trusted Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd., a reputed name in the insurance broking industry with 17 years of experience. Paybima promises you the easy-to-access online platform to buy insurance policies, and also extend their unrelented assistance with all your policy related queries and services.

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