Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is known to cause the inflammation of joints, and its damage gradually reduces body movement. The symptoms can be observed as stiff joints in the morning hours; as one ages, RA can affect other organs of the body such as the spleen, blood vessels, and lungs. There is no one particular cause for rheumatoid arthritis. It may be caused by an infection in the immune system. It may be a genetic disease running in the family. Or, the cause of rheumatoid arthritis can be non-genetic, affecting the person at some point of life. Studies are ongoing to identify if any bacteria or viruses may cause rheumatoid arthritis. Just as identifying the cause of the disease is difficult, diagnosing RA is also not an easy task. There are many methods and techniques of diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis. Of course initially, the person goes through a complete physical examination offered by the doctor. The diagnosis of the doctor is verified and concluded through the laboratory tests before administering treatment.

A latex test is one of the most recommended diagnoses. The test is used to detect the presence of rheumatoid factor in blood. In most cases of rheumatoid arthritis, the anti-bodies or white blood cells attack the body