Study SUGGESTS 'Vitamin D' MAY Help PREVENT Rheumatoid Arthritis

[Arthur Little]

It could ... could it?

Well, ... more than 400,000 people are estimated to suffer from this ^ debilitating condition - characterised by painfully inflamed, badly~misshapen joints - in the UK alone!

Goodness only knows ... ... what the figures amount to worldwide.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...suggests-study ...

[SimonH]

A good dose of get off your and enjoy some sunshine will have the same effect

[Arthur Little]

A good dose of get off your and enjoy some sunshine will have the same effect

... RA ain't a joke, believe me! I can vouch for that, because my first [late] wife developed it just a few months before we married in 1967 ... having "inherited" the condition from her mother. So, of course, it can also be familial, running in the bloodline, as an aunt of her mother's had had it years earlier. NOR indeed, are those it affects necessarily old ... my then about to be wife was just 27 when she was diagnosed.

[Doc Alan]

Vitamin D is needed for good health. It's obtained from diet ( oily fish, fortified foods ) and sunlight ( allowing formation in skin ). Lack of it may lead, among other conditions, to weak bones ( rickets / osteomalacia ), and perhaps rheumatoid arthritis. Vitamin D supplements are cheap and may be recommended for people at risk of deficiency.



We all have a degree of immune tolerance to our own bodies. Normally this is a low level of " auto-immunity ". But our immune system is complex. It may not only recognize " self " but also over-react, resulting in auto-immune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) is one of these conditions, affecting up to 1% of the population - in UK, Philippines and elsewhere in the world.




RA is a serious condition and can't be cured. It’s three times commoner in women ( before the menopause ), as with other auto-immune diseases. While it usually starts between the ages of 30 - 50, it can affect younger and older people. There may be genetic factors involved, and smokers are at increased risk. It may be unclear what actually " triggers " the start of the disease.



RA mainly affects joints ( especially hands and feet in the early stages ) but other parts of the body may be affected. It’s truly a " rheumatoid disease ".



Early recognition and treatment ( with a variety of drugs ) are most likely to keep the disease under control ( " remission " ). Newer " biological treatments " target various parts of the immune system.



If RA can't be recognised and treated early, the outlook is less good. People with the disease may not understand their symptoms. Especially in the Philippines, they may not visit their doctor / afford treatment. There are few specialists dealing with such conditions ( rheumatologists ), compared to UK.



It’s good to know that that the frequency of RA may be falling - perhaps because of more accurate diagnosis nowadays.