Rheumatoid Arthritis
Created | Updated Apr 19, 2002
About 8 million people in the U.K. suffer from arthritis, of which there are nearly 200 types. One of these is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA),which is systemic and affects the joints and other organs,such as heart, lungs,and blood vessels. There is no known cause or cure. Treatment is the management of symptoms and attempts to slow the progress. Young people can get it; it is not an "old person's" disease
Our government has a health improvement plan, and there are also local HIMPs. Arthritis is not in the national plan. This has implications for allocation of resources. RA is a life-threatening disease, and the treatments have potentially dangerous side-effects, yet there are not enough rheumatology consultants in the U.K.The National Health Service Executive has reneged on its promise of more rheumatology training places. In South Humber region the local HIMP prefers to prioritise teenage pregnancies and drug and alcohol abuse, thus rewarding inappropriate behaviours, the answer to which is a simple "no". If you are interested in arthritis go to this site:www.arc.org.uk
Our government has a health improvement plan, and there are also local HIMPs. Arthritis is not in the national plan. This has implications for allocation of resources. RA is a life-threatening disease, and the treatments have potentially dangerous side-effects, yet there are not enough rheumatology consultants in the U.K.The National Health Service Executive has reneged on its promise of more rheumatology training places. In South Humber region the local HIMP prefers to prioritise teenage pregnancies and drug and alcohol abuse, thus rewarding inappropriate behaviours, the answer to which is a simple "no". If you are interested in arthritis go to this site:www.arc.org.uk
