Rheumatoid arthritis is a joint disease which is autoimmune in origin. It presents as painful, tender, swollen joints which become deformed after long illness. Causes are believed to be genetic with environmental trigger. Disease onset is seen mostly in middle aged females. The body reacts to its own joint tissue attacking it and causing inflammation resulting in thickening of joint capsules. Common signs of R.A include: polyarthritis, synovitis, swan neck deformity, ulnar deviation, hammer toe and rheumatoid nodules. Condition may produce complications and involve multiple systems like: caplan's syndrome in lungs, stroke, myocardial infarction, endocarditis, vasculitis, anemia, amyloidosis peripheral neuropathy, atlanto axial subluxation, lymphoma and scleritis. people at risk of the disease are the ones with family history of the disease (HLA-DRA4 +ve) and environmental triggers like smoking history, alcohol consumers. Diagnosis is done by: x-ray showing a specific deformity, MRI, blood test having RF+ve, anti-CCP Ab +ve, anti citrulinated protein Ab, ESR, CRP. Management options include: pain relief, DMARDs and life style changes.