RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Most of us have never heard of Rheumatoid Arthritis. It is the type of disease you only learn about when someone you know comes down with it. We’ve all heard about or come across someone who has Arthritis, However, Rheumatoid Arthritis is a whole new ball game.

He was someone I knew.
Indeed, I should call him a friend.
One of those patients you end up striking a friendship with – A young successful businessman with everything going for him.

I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years until he called that fateful day. There was something eerie about the way he spoke on the phone.

I went out to meet him, and what I saw made my smile disappear – my outstretched hand was met by a deformed hand.

My friend had suddenly become a cripple.

His hands and legs were deformed, and he couldn’t walk without the aid of a wheelchair. He was a pitiable sight.
What manner of illness could have done this to a person in such a short time? A young man for that matter.

He had Rheumatoid Arthritis.

WHAT IS RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS?

This is an autoimmune disease ( A disease where the body’s immune system attacks the body cells or tissues). It affects multiple joints in the body.

Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Severe pain in joints

leads to deformity

leads to disability

leading to loss of function

An eventual reduction in a person’s quality of life.

Treatment and prognosis

Although no cure exists, there are major advances being made by science to reduce the pain and disability associated with this condition. However management of this condition doesn’t come cheap.

Back to my Friend.

His business started to crumble and his wife started misbehaving as a consequence of his seemingly disabled condition.