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Rapid diagnosis by a medical specialist is important in all rheumatic disorders due to the long-term damage that inflammation causes to joints and other affected parts of the body. For example, studies showed that if treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis is started within 12 weeks after the onset of symptoms, this could minimize the level of joint impact over time and increase the chances of remission.

Van der Lined M.P.M., le Cessie S., Raza K., et al. Long-Term Impact of Delay in Assessment of Patients with Early Arthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism 62 (2010) 3537-3546
 

Rheumatoid Arthritis can affect any joint in your body, including the spine. In some people, it can also damage the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels. A study from the University Zurich suggests that differences in the embryonic development of joints and organs could determine whether a joint or organ is susceptible to be affected by RA or not.

Frank-Bertoncelj M, Trenkmann M, Klein K, Karouzakis E, Rehrauer H, Bratus A, Kolling C, Armaka M, Filer A, Michel BA, Gay RE, Buckley CD, Kollias G, Gay S, Ospelt C. Epigenetically-driven anatomical diversity of synovial fibroblasts guides joint-specific fibroblast functions. Nat Commun. 2017 Mar 23;8:14852. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14852
 

Rheumatic diseases, such as osteoarthritis, but especially inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus and psoriatic arthritis, put you at increased risk of developing heart disease. The reason is inflammation, which occurs in most rheumatic diseases, and is a risk factor for cardiac problems. This is another reason why it is important to get the painful inflammation in rheumatic disorders under control.

Michael T. Nurmohamed, Maaike Heslinga & George D. Kitas: Cardiovascular comorbidity in rheumatic diseases. Nature Reviews Rheumatology, 11, 693–704 (2015) doi:10.1038/nrrheum.2015.112
 

Gout is a type of arthritis that causes intense pain and stiffness in the joints, classically in the big toe. It results from excess uric acid in the body, which can have many causes. Changes in diet may bring relief, but hereditary factors, accident or illness can also cause a gout attack. Research conducted by IRR founder Jürg Tschopp discovered how uric acid crystals cause inflammation. This led to medications that block the production of uric acid crystals, providing gout patients with immediate and prolonged relief.

Martinon F, Pétrilli V, Mayor A, Tardivel A, Tschopp J. Gout-associated uric acid crystals activate the NALP3 inflammasome. Nature: 2006 Mar 9;440(7081):237-41. Epub 2006 Jan 11
 

Juvenile Arthritis affects about 25’000 children of all ages in Switzerland, most commonly in children of ages 1-6. It is a potentially life-threatening condition which causes joint destruction, retarded growth, osteoporosis, limitation in activities of daily living and psychological illness. It is poorly understood. "Idiopathic" means that the cause is unknown. and like most rheumatic diseases there is also no known cure. However rapid diagnosis improves the chances of treating the symptoms effectively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_idiopathic_arthritis
 

If you smoke, you are twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. We don’t yet know exactly why, but it seems that smoking leads to faulty immune functioning if you already have certain genetic factors that make you susceptible to this disease. If you stop smoking the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis will gradually decrease. One of the pioneers of this research is IRR Scientific Advisory Board member Lars Klareskog. Scientists at Zürich University have also shown how the effect of smoking on joint cells might be the link to the increased risk of smokers of developing RA.

Klareskog L, Padyukov L, Alfredsson L: Smoking as a trigger for inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2007, 19: 49-54. 10.1097/BOR.0b013e32801127c8

Ospelt C, Bang H, Feist E, Camici G, Keller S, Detert J, Krämer A, Gay S, Ghannam K, Burmester GR. Carbamylation of vimentin is inducible by smoking and represents an independent autoantigen in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Jul;76(7):1176-1183. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-210059. Epub 2017 Feb 9

Ospelt C, Camici GG, Engler A, Kolling C, Vogetseder A, Gay RE, Michel BA, Gay S. Smoking induces transcription of the heat shock protein system in the joints. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014 Jul;73(7):1423-6. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204486. Epub 2014 Feb 18