New RA cases | Arthritis Information
Is it just me or does it seem like RA is becoming more and more common?
I have noticed an onslaught of new people not only on this forum but other forums I visit.
They say only 2 million people in the US have it yet anyone I talk to always knows someone recently dx'd.
It really makes me wonder just what causes this disease.
You are touching on something I've been thinking about too. Everytime I see 'forecast' numbers I think that something else has to be going on. I mean - it sure looks like 'more' people are getting this but our population is declining (Boomers had less kids) etc. Big lump when the Boomers pass into age brackets.
Hugs,
Pip
Without hard facts, it is difficult to make such assumptions.
Personally, I think that we have better access to care, better diagnostics, better treatments and more awareness than we did 50 or 100 years ago.
I don't know, it seems like it always goes that way when you become more aware of a thing. It's like how when you're pregnant it seems like all of the sudden the whole world is gonna have a baby!
LOL..I totally agree with Linncn "I don't know, it seems like it always goes that way when you become more aware of a thing. It's like how when you're pregnant it seems like all of the sudden the whole world is gonna have a baby!"
My RD was trying to find a time to schedule me the other day, going over his own calendar. He said they had work-ins lined up for the whole week, no openings, just completely covered up. He said "they" had been warning RD's the past few years about the effect of the boomer generation aging, and increased demand for RD's, and he thought it was finally starting to happen...
...but I also agree with the statement about "once you are pregnant..." I notice so much more now. Found out someone I've known for years has RA.
Except this isn't supposed to be an 'aging' thing. I thought it was prior to getting it. But everything I'm seeing is most people are diagnosed in their 30's. So...how come it's an 'aging' thing.
Pip
It's probably that the RD's are getting booked up with more osteo patients now that the boomers are getting older, not necessarily RA patients causing the bottle neck.
He may have been seeing new OA patients? And doesn't RA sometimes flare during menopause? Who knows....wish they could figure this thing out though, once and for all! :)
A couple of months ago there was a report on the frequency of the various types of arthritis and RA actually was not as common as they thought. The baby boom population is in prime time for a RA diagnosis. But, I really don't think we are seeing an increase in overall numbers as much as more and more people are using the internet. Also more newcomers may be feeling more comfortable as the (please no jinx) ugliness is at a minimum at the moment.
Pip...Boomers may have each had fewer children but the shear numbers of them having children more than offset an individually smaller family size.
RA is not a disease of aging. The prime ages however for diagnosis are 35-50 but I think with better diagnositic capabilities we may be seeing a slight downward shift in those numbers.
CDC warning pertaining rheumatology patients is due to the influx of boomers with OA that is expected
It could be any number of things.
It could be the vaccines we get as a baby.
It could be the chemicals in our food or even baby formulas during development.
It could be the pollution in the air.
It could be the amount of stress people live with today.
The dna could have always been there for RA, just that nothing brought it out before.
Mine came out like a truck when hurricane katrina hit close to home, i went into a total panic and didn't calm down because of the people in our local shelters etc. It was very hard and my very mild RA went into full blown, you can't get out of bed RA.
I do know that chemicals in food, chemicals i breathe etc. make a huge difference in my RA, it makes me far worse with flairs.
Well, you have me there...definitely more environmental hazzards since we were kids. And the food! Don't get me started.
I never thought about OA - that could be it. Just the stuff I saw from AF was about RA only I thought.
And I haven't seen a population demographic chart in decades. LOL I do remember them saying something about marketing would become a lot more prevalent as they 'inspired' more people to buy more stuff as the decrease in sheer numbers couldn't keep some businesses alive.
Pip
Pip
It could be it didn't have a "name". I say no one else in my family history had RA but my father's mother who died when I was 2 could not go up & down steps, use the bathroom, get in a bath tub when she was in her 60's unless she was assisted due to pain. Maybe she had RA????I always wonder about that too....no one that we know of in my history has had RA, but maybe they did and they called something else. Or maybe they didn't talk about it. When my son started having seizures when he was little, it came out that their had been epilepsy in the fam history, but it was a "shameful" thing to have, so it was kept quiet.It could be it didn't have a "name". I say no one else in my family history had RA but my father's mother who died when I was 2 could not go up & down steps, use the bathroom, get in a bath tub when she was in her 60's unless she was assisted due to pain. Maybe she had RA????
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