When MedPage Today contacted Joan Von Feldt, MD, to talk about the changes she'd witnessed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) care in the past 25 years, she offered one piece of advice:
"I hope, in your article, you reflect the excitement that rheumatologists have in managing this disease, because it's so much more satisfying," said Von Feldt, a rheumatologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1984, the outlook for newly diagnosed RA patients was grim: a regimen of often toxic drugs that might slow the onset of crippling pain, but not for very long. Younger women were advised to forget about having children because they probably would be too disabled for the rigors of motherhood. The best outcome for many patients was joint fusion or replacement surgery.
"Our orthopedic surgeon came around to our offices two or three times a week to just kind of check in," Von Feldt recalled.
Today, although disease flares and progression can't be prevented entirely, doctors can now tell patients to expect long periods of remission and the availability of many effective, nonsurgical treatment options when their current regimens begin to fail.
Dennis Boulware, MD, a rheumatologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said he tells new patients that they can live normal lives.
"I would also mention one of my former patients with significant rheumatoid arthritis who ran and completed a marathon after we got her condition under control."
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/17745love itthat article is the story of my arthritis. I was 22 years old when I was diagnosed 25 years ago. I've been on most of the drugs mentioned in the article..except for long term prednisone. 7 joint replacements so far and at least one more on the horizon. I'm in that percentage of RA patients that has been resistant to the meds or should I say my body adjusts quickly and they become less effective.