There are millions of people which suffer with RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and diabetes, but did you know there is actually a relationship between the two? Beyond that alone, there are many practices and techniques that a person can engage in to lessen the severity of their conditions, although arthritis cannot be cured while on the other hand, diabetes can be cured. The battle to cure diabetes is quite hard, but there have been people to achieve it throughout the years. What is the true relationship between these two conditions? That’s a wonderful question because today, we are going to be taking a look at the true relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.

What Really Is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

This is a disease that affects the immune system to begin with, so it’s an autoimmune disease. It’s an illness which attacks its own tissues. In general, arthritis means the inflammation of a joint or muscle, but rheumatoid arthritis actually attacks the immune system of a person. This type of condition essentially disturbs the joints on both sides of a person’s body, such as both wrists, both hands, feet or knees. This type of arthritis is a huge blow to a lot of people because it will tend to reshape a person’s joints as well. For example, causing a person’s hands to appear to be twisted and turned in all sorts of formats. The symmetry of rheumatoid arthritis helps to set it apart from other forms of arthritis. What are some of the indications of rheumatoid arthritis?

Well, symptoms vary from person to person on how they will react to a certain condition, even specific medications. Did you know that rheumatoid arthritis can also affect a person’s eyes, skin, lungs, heart, nerves, and even the bloodstream? Having rheumatoid arthritis is absolutely nothing to joke about or play around in! How would a person know if they have rheumatoid arthritis? What are some of the most common symptoms of this condition? Below in a listing format, we are going to provide out to you, some of the most well-known rheumatoid arthritis symptoms that a person will go through with this condition.

• A lot of the times, a person will undergo joint swelling, as well joint pain and keep in mind that if you have rheumatoid arthritis in the right hand, you will most definitely have it in your left hand as well.
• Keep in mind that there will be a lot of joint stiffness in the mornings or whenever you sit for long periods of time. This is because the joint is immobile. The less a person moves, the worse the rheumatoid arthritis pain will get because of no movement and expansion of that afflicted joint.
• Many people will tend to feel very fatigued with RA (rheumatoid arthritis). Why would this be? Well, it’s because most people with this condition will be on certain medications that make a person feel draggy or tired. Other factors include the overall infection that is built up in the joint as well. Keep in mind that when people know that they have rheumatoid arthritis, depression, even if it’s in the slightest form will nine times out of ten usually set in. This is because once diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, your body changes and not for the better. A person will have difficultly doing simple things throughout the home and so on that they used to complete with ease. That change will make a person feel quite depressed and with depression will come feelings of being tired and fatigued.
  Keep in mind that rheumatoid arthritis development is different for everyone in how it sets in. With some people, the process takes years upon years to worse, while on the other hand, some people’s development of rheumatoid arthritis occurs quite quickly. This condition affects the body by having the immune system cells move from the blood and into the joints, as well joint-lining tissue and this is called synovium. Now, keep in mind that once they arrive, those exact immune system cells will initially create inflammation that wears down a person’s cartilage.

What Really Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is classified as the result of having too much sugar in a person’s bloodstream. There are actually different forms of diabetes, as they have their own classifications.

• Type 1 Diabetes: This is a type of diabetes in which the pancreas will produce little to no insulin.
• Type 2 Diabetes: This is a form of diabetes that will affect the way the blood will process blood sugar.
• Prediabetes: This type of diabetes is a condition in which a person’s blood sugar is high, but not high enough to be classified as having type 2 diabetes.
• Gestational Diabetes: This is a form of diabetes affecting high blood sugar in women which are expecting.

Diabetes can actually strike anyone at any time and just because your mother or father may have not had diabetes doesn’t mean that you cannot develop this condition. It appears the numbers are constantly increasing as to people developing diabetes each year and a lot of it has to do with our daily diets. On a worldwide basis, it effects more than 422 million individuals. The World Health Organization has even stated that by the year 2030, that number will surely to more than double in that number! That sounds quite overwhelming, doesn’t it? Did you know that in today’s modern day and age, this condition takes more lives than AIDS, as well breast cancer united? Diabetes claims one American life per every three minutes and has said to be the top, leading cause of kidney failure, blindness, amputations, stroke, as well heart failure.

Keep in mind that the main three symptoms of having diabetes are to have increased thirst, an increased need to urinate, as well an increased desire to eat food. When a person has diabetes, it’s either because their body doesn’t create enough insulin or cannot use its own insulin as well as the body should. How does having diabetes affect a person’s body, really? Well, keep in mind that when someone has this condition, their bodies cannot maintain healthy levels of glucose within the bloodstream. What is glucose? Glucose is an actual form of sugar which is the main source of energy for a person’s body. Please take into consideration that unhealthy levels of glucose within the bloodstream can very well lead to long term, as well short-term complications for a person. In order for our bodies to work properly, we will need to convert glucose, which is the bodies form of sugar, so we will need to convert glucose from food into energy. There is a specific hormone in the body that is called insulin and it’s quite essential for the initial conversion of our body’s sugar into energy. Now, if a person has diabetes, their insulin is no longer formed or sometimes the insulin isn’t produced in adequate amounts by a person’s body. Did you know that when people with diabetes eats glucose such as cereals, breads, fruit, and starchy vegetables, the glucose cannot be converted into energy?

That’s right and instead of the glucose being turned into energy, it stays in the bloodstream of a person and that will result in high glucose levels. As a side note, there are so many people that bring this condition on themselves and don’t get me wrong, there are quite a lot of people that are born with diabetes and cannot help it, but then again, there are some people which bring this on themselves. How on Earth could that even happen? Well, the starchier foods a person eats, the more weight that he or she will gain and that will ultimately cause a person to become overweight, which is the leading cause of diabetes. If a person eats too much sugar within their diet, they are putting their bodies at risk of developing this condition. Believe it or not, but skinny people can very well develop diabetes just from having a bad diet. It’s hard to comprehend, but there is so much truth to it all!

What Is the Initial Link Between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Diabetes?

A person wouldn’t think that there could be a connection between these two conditions, but in fact there are! What really is the biggest connection between rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes? First of all, let’s keep in mind that if you already have one of these two conditions, chances are, you are nine times out of ten more likely to develop the other condition. That just goes hand in hand. There have actually been studies conducted which proved that a variety of elements play a role in this initial connection between rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. So, below in a listing format, we are going to be discussing some of those common elements.

• The connection between rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes: The fact that both of these illnesses are auto immune diseases makes the first initial connection. Rheumatoid arthritis will initially attack the joints, while on the other hand, type 1 diabetes will attack the cells inside a person’s pancreas which is in charge of producing the insulin. Insulin is the hormone which assists your body in processing blood sugar.
• There will always be inflammation: Did you know that both of these conditions will essentially cause inflammation throughout the body? Rheumatoid arthritis will cause chronic inflammation and when it’s ongoing, it will cause a person’s body to stop replying to insulin in the proper way that the body should. It’s also important to know that chronic inflammation from diabetes sometimes paves the way for a person to develop rheumatoid arthritis. There has been research which has suggested that various forms of inflammation could very well cause people who are at a genetic risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis to actually develop the illness quite earlier than otherwise.
• Watch out for specific drugs: It seems as though there’s always a backset when it comes to medications, isn’t there? It appears a person can’t treat one condition without developing another and that’s exactly what happens sometimes with people who suffer with rheumatoid arthritis. There has been research which has proved that some drugs which are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis can very well increase a person’s risk of developing diabetes. Such drugs will include ones like steroids, as well statins.
• Being stagnate: It’s a true, known fact that rheumatoid arthritis can keep a person from being active and this will play into developing diabetes because when a person isn’t active, they will tend to put on more weight and what will this more than likely lead into? That’s right, by putting on more weight, a person’s risk of developing diabetes will go up. Why would a person become less active when they develop rheumatoid arthritis? Well, keep in mind that rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints in a way to where running and staying physically active literally hurts a person’s joints and muscles. It’s an awful illness and the fact that there is no 110% cure for any form of arthritis makes it even worse to consider.
  Initially, will one condition, let’s say of rheumatoid arthritis cause diabetes every single time a person is diagnosed with one or the other? You must remember that the connection between these two conditions may have some shared risk factors. Let me give you a small example right fast. Let’s say, the identical gene that could cause diabetes may very well lead to rheumatoid arthritis and vice versa. Keep in mind that certain lifestyle decisions such as smoking, getting enough exercise or even too much exercise, and specific formats within you diet all play a role in whether or not you could develop diabetes, as well rheumatoid arthritis.

How Can a Person Cope with Rheumatoid Arthritis?

There are many ways that a person can cope with this condition and to be honest, the possibilities are quite endless when it comes to taking the severity off from rheumatoid arthritis. There are so many different forms of exercise, natural healing activities, as well medications a person can engage in that will help to not heal, but to better cope with the pains of rheumatoid arthritis. One activity that you can do is take up walking, as well stretching when you develop rheumatoid arthritis and as a side note, keep in mind that by your constant moving with various forms of exercise, you are taking your risk down for developing diabetes, which goes hand in hand with rheumatoid arthritis. Keep in mind that the absolute worst thing that a person can do when they have rheumatoid arthritis is to be stagnate and did you know that lack of activity can actually make a person’s joints stiffer, as well more painful? That’s right, so it’s very important that you get up and move if at all possible.

I know it’s hard when you have any form of arthritis because your joints feel tired, sore, and oh so hot, but if you can move through the pain, it will help you in the long run. A lot of people do not realize this but stress in a person’s life can make rheumatoid arthritis worsen, believe it or not. What I would personally recommend you to do is take up some meditation classes or try Yoga there in the comforts of your own home and if those types of activities are not for you, just try a relaxing hot bath. You would be so surprised how pleasing just a single, hot bath would make a person feel. Deep breathing is another great activity that you can try when attempting to cope with this form of arthritis because the key factor that you must understand is that this condition will tend to worsen with stress, causing the joints and muscles to lock up even more. You must try your best to find that happy medium in your life and take regular breaks of relaxation throughout each day to stay fit and on top of your rheumatoid arthritis condition. Another great thing that you can do is watch out for foods which contain man made sweeteners. Why would this be bad for people that suffer with rheumatoid arthritis? Well, it’s because food which contain man made sweeteners will actually cause a person’s inflammation and pain to get worse, so it would be best to stay away from foods which contain man made sweeteners. One food that you should be eating is fish oil, either in pill form or throughout real fish because it’s a known fact that foods which contain fish oil help to reduce a person’s inflammation and pain throughout their body. Another thing to make sure that you’re getting is enough sleep because without it, your body could flare up with harder pressure points of inflammation and pain. You wouldn’t think this, but it’s the truth. There are so many tiny elements that play a part in worsening, as well getting better with rheumatoid arthritis. If you’re not getting the average, eight hours of sleep, then you may just very well undergo an arthritic flareup and who wants or has time for those, right?

How Can a Person Cope with Diabetes?

There are many ways to cope with diabetes, but one of the top elements that a person can do is to watch what you are eating, as that will be the number one thing you can do. Each day, it would be best to get up and start your day off with less to no sugar at all and if you’re anything like myself, you will more than likely love that sugary taste. So, here is what I would recommend you do. Go out and buy sugar free foods and sugars that way you are remaining in the safe zone, while on the other hand, you are getting that sugary taste. It’s a win for all sides.

It’s also very important that you check your blood sugar levels every single day because when you suffer with diabetes, you never know what each day will bring, literally. It will also be quite important when you are out in public, you take with you, a candy bar or something with just a little sugar intake in it just in case your blood sugar drops too low because then you could very well pass out and who would want that in public? Who would want that at any time, right? You will also want to listen to your body and what I mean by that is if you’re at home or out on the town and you’re feeling as though your body is being pushed to hard, take a break and stop whatever it is that you’re doing. This is your body’s response that something is wrong and more than likely it will be from your blood sugar levels dropping too low too quickly. Once again, that’s why it’s so important to always carry a little piece of candy with you in your purse.