Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Jennie, the point is that RA cannot be viewed as a benign disease. Sure, people can be affected with varying degrees of severity and some will have normal life spans, but we still don't have a foolproof way of identifying, at either the onset of RA or as the disease unfolds, those with a more serious prognosis. We do have pretty good clues though. Two women who were members of our group, both of whom had RA, are now dead. They were both in their 40s. Other members are currently very seriously ill and have had close calls. Those facts stay with me. From the article that you posted or those of mine that followed, you can draw your own conclusions. None of this information is to cause anyone here to despair; rather, it is my hope that people will give RA the serious consideration it deserves. Educate yourselves on how best to fight it. Then do it. Therapeutic regimens are more effective now than ever before, and there are things one can do to be as healthy as possible with RA and to, possibly, affect one's outcome. For example, one should stop smoking, lose weight if overweight, exercise regularly, work closely and honestly with an excellent physician, preferably a rheumatologist, get proper sleep, and make dietary modifications, if necessary. There is much hope for the future! I'll tell you where to go! Mayo Clinic in Rochester http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester s Hopkins Medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org [ ] Re: RA can be deadly > > Yes - but isn't that in rare cases? I think there are lots of > diseases with higher odds of killing you. I'm guessing that my odds > of dying from RA are much less than of dying on the highway each day > I go to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Jennie, the point is that RA cannot be viewed as a benign disease. Sure, people can be affected with varying degrees of severity and some will have normal life spans, but we still don't have a foolproof way of identifying, at either the onset of RA or as the disease unfolds, those with a more serious prognosis. We do have pretty good clues though. Two women who were members of our group, both of whom had RA, are now dead. They were both in their 40s. Other members are currently very seriously ill and have had close calls. Those facts stay with me. From the article that you posted or those of mine that followed, you can draw your own conclusions. None of this information is to cause anyone here to despair; rather, it is my hope that people will give RA the serious consideration it deserves. Educate yourselves on how best to fight it. Then do it. Therapeutic regimens are more effective now than ever before, and there are things one can do to be as healthy as possible with RA and to, possibly, affect one's outcome. For example, one should stop smoking, lose weight if overweight, exercise regularly, work closely and honestly with an excellent physician, preferably a rheumatologist, get proper sleep, and make dietary modifications, if necessary. There is much hope for the future! I'll tell you where to go! Mayo Clinic in Rochester http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester s Hopkins Medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org [ ] Re: RA can be deadly > > Yes - but isn't that in rare cases? I think there are lots of > diseases with higher odds of killing you. I'm guessing that my odds > of dying from RA are much less than of dying on the highway each day > I go to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 , What kind of meds were the two women on that died? Thanks, ette > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 , What kind of meds were the two women on that died? Thanks, ette > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 ette, both women had aggressive disease and failed numerous DMARDs, including biologics. Whenever a new drug was available either on the market or in a trial, they tried it. I don't know what DMARDs and other meds they were on when they died. I'll tell you where to go! Mayo Clinic in Rochester http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester s Hopkins Medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org Re: [ ] Re: RA can be deadly > > , > > What kind of meds were the two women on that died? > > Thanks, > ette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 ette, both women had aggressive disease and failed numerous DMARDs, including biologics. Whenever a new drug was available either on the market or in a trial, they tried it. I don't know what DMARDs and other meds they were on when they died. I'll tell you where to go! Mayo Clinic in Rochester http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester s Hopkins Medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org Re: [ ] Re: RA can be deadly > > , > > What kind of meds were the two women on that died? > > Thanks, > ette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.