Ask The Doctors: 08/08

The diagnosis of early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is based primarily on the presence of typical symptoms of the disease. Most commonly, these include morning stiffness in the joints lasting more than an hour and symmetrical pain and swelling in the small joints of the hands, wrists, and feet. Diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis requires these symptoms to be present for at least six weeks or longer, since other types of arthritis, often related to viral infections, may lead to similar but more transient findings.