Monday, October 13th, 2008
An online survey for World Arthritis Day (WAD), completed by over 3,600* respondents revealed that access to psychological support and self-management courses could help people with arthritis/rheumatism cope more effectively with their condition and achieve better quality of life. Healthcare professionals, people with rheumatic disease and their carers, who responded to the survey, highlight the importance of integrating psychological support into the standard treatment regime.
The survey, a project run by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Standing Committee of People with Arthritis/Rheumatism in Europe (PARE), was completed by people with arthritis/rheumatism, their carers and health professionals from over 50 countries across the world.
Ninety seven percent of people with rheumatism/arthritis and carers indicated that this condition affects them/people they care for emotionally and 5% of them said it may lead to depression. Despite of the scale of the problem only 35% of the survey respondents said they raise the emotional impact of their arthritis/rheumatism with their doctor.
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Thursday, August 21st, 2008
A newly developed medical imaging technology may provide doctors with a long-awaited test for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA), scientists from New York reported today at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. By far the most common form of arthritis, OA is a bane of the Baby Boom generation, causing joint pain and disability for more than half of those over 65 – nearly 21 million people in the United States.
Current diagnostic methods usually do not catch the disease until OA is in advanced stages when joint damage may already have occurred. A method for early diagnosis could open a window of opportunity for preventing or reducing permanent damage — especially with evidence that dietary supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin can halt further joint degeneration, says Alexej Jerschow, Ph.D., who reported on the research jointly with Ravinder R. Regatte, Ph.D.
“Our methods have the potential of providing early warning signs for cartilage disorders like osteoarthritis, thus potentially avoiding surgery and physical therapy later on,” states Jerschow. “Also, the effectiveness of early preventative drug therapies can be better assessed with these methods.
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