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Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease which initially attacks the synovium, a connective tissue membrane that lines the capsule around joints and secretes a lubricating fluid.

Review Date: 5/7/2007
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.

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