Arthritis in neck. Coloured X-ray, from the side, of the neck and the base of the skull of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. The front of the body is at right. The neck bones (cervical vertebrae, centre right) form part of the spine. Here, they are not uniform in appearance and the joint spaces between them are not uniform. This is due to the effects of rheumatoid arthritis, a disorder of the immune system where the immune system attacks the body's own tissues (an autoimmune reaction), which causes progressive damage to joints and to soft tissues in the joints. There is no cure, but anti- inflammatory drugs can control the damage.