In 2017, the journal Arthritis Care & Research presented a study revealing how another, specific health issue seriously complicated the diagnosis of arthritis.
More specifically, people who have this issue have high levels of the inflammatory markers called C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
But so do people with arthritis.
You could, therefore, be misdiagnosed with arthritis just because you’ve this other health issue (which half the world has anyway). Or your treatment options could be very much limited.
The scientists reached this conclusion after examining the medical data of more than 2,000 people previously collected by other studies, finding that the inflammatory markers that obesity shared with arthritis increased along with one’s body mass index.
In other words, the more obese you are, the more likely it is that you will be diagnosed with extremely severe rheumatoid arthritis.
Because rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive disease that gradually destroys the cartilage in your joints, the absence of symptoms won’t prevent doctors from prescribing aggressive treatment if they think you have a severe form.
They will just tell you that the pain and destruction will start shortly and that early aggressive treatment could slow the progression.
You might, thus, find yourself treated for a condition you don’t even have, suffering the psychological trauma of thinking your quality of life is about to deteriorate critically in the next few months.