RNS: Arthritis and aging, May 2007
TIME: 2:43
URL: www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2007/hmarthritis.htm
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A University of Michigan Health Minute update on important health issues
Aging gracefully, with a chronic disease
As rheumatoid arthritis patients grow older, they face new challenges of managing the incurable condition, U-M doctor says
Suggested lead: Is it a normal part of aging, or are those aches and pains the result of rheumatoid arthritis? Here’s Andi Mcdonnell with more.
For the better part of three decades, Sherrie Kossoudji has worked to manage the inflammation, chronic pain, tight joints and other types of physical strife caused by rheumatoid arthritis.
Now 53, Kossoudji is dealing with a new aspect of her chronic disease: sorting out what is a normal part of aging, and what is a facet of rheumatoid arthritis, or RA.
She tells us…
“I have fingers that don’t work well, joints that don’t work well. I have a wrist that doesn’t flex. I have neuropathies in my legs that I don’t feel what’s happening with my legs very much.
“And so it can often be very difficult to understand, figure out and relax into what’s a normal aging process compared to what’s a more degenerative process associated with the disease.”
Whatever the age of the patient’s RA onset – whether it is at a young age, like Kossoudji at the time of her diagnosis, or later in life – RA is not a normal part of aging. It is a specific condition with symptoms that can’t be cured, but can be managed.
Dr. David A. Fox (M.D.), division chief and professor of rheumatology at the University of Michigan Health System, explains…
“Arthritis should not be just considered part of the aging process or a normal part of getting older for several reasons. First of all, there are some elderly people who don’t have arthritis and second, many people develop arthritis when they’re younger.”
Many patients are helped by some of the available treatments, including pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, such as tumor necrosis factor blockers. Exercise, weight loss and diet changes also can be helpful, Fox says.
“If you have arthritis you shouldn’t feel that it’s time to give up and stop living your life. For most people with arthritis, near normal activity can be maintained with perhaps a few compromises. It’s important to maintain an exercise program. It’s definitely important to let your doctor know if your joints are hurting. And if you have rheumatoid arthritis or any form of arthritis that is making you seriously ill or significantly limiting your ability to function, you should be referred to a rheumatologist, who is a medical expert in arthritis, to determine the best possible treatment program.”
Kossoudji, for one, has followed Fox’s advice.
“My goal is to manage the disease - not overcome the disease, but to do my best having this disease.”
Andi Mcdonnell, U-M Health System News.
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