Arthritis and Thymus Immune System

Now if we would open my chest like this, we could see a small organ here called the thymus.

It is responsible for teaching these cells not to attack our own body, but clearly in

rheumatoid arthritis, something is wrong here.

So what exactly goes wrong is not known yet, but sadly we do know that additional immune

cells called macrophages come to this region and they release enzymes into the joints and

ultimately cause damage.

They can also activate fibroblasts, and fibroblasts are supposed to repair the damage, but they

cannot do it in the right way or in the right spot.

And so the permanent damage to the joint is done and this can have serious consequences

for the life quality and health of the patient in the future.