RA is now RD

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

I’ve been reading some recent articles (2019) and see they are finally referring to rheumatoid arthritis as “rheumatoid disease.” I have always thought it was named incorrectly because many think it is the same as osteoarthritis, which is pretty much limited to joint pain and disfiguration as we age. The pain levels can be very similar.

Rheumatoid disease (now RD) is an autoimmune disease which attacks the body both inside (organs) and out (joints) and leads to many other autoimmune diseases.

They are very different, and it’s finally being recognized.

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

IMW · ‎06-15-2014

Thank you for the excellent information.

hayseed00 · ‎11-24-2011

@LilacTree Thanks for the info. I along with many others have been suffering from this disease.

PilatesLover · ‎08-20-2014

My rheumatologist told me this a couple years ago. He told me it is considered a pre-cancerous condition.

Makes total sense to me. I've been transported by ambulance to the hospital for it. I've had five inpatient admissions for it. A lot of us take chemotherapy for it.

I don't know anyone who has been admitted to the hospital for "arthritis pain." This disease has taken so much from me. If only they could find a cure.

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

@PilatesLover wrote:
My rheumatologist told me this a couple years ago. He told me it is considered a pre-cancerous condition.

Makes total sense to me. I've been transported by ambulance to the hospital for it. I've had five inpatient admissions for it. A lot of us take chemotherapy for it.

I don't know anyone who has been admitted to the hospital for "arthritis pain." This disease has taken so much from me. If only they could find a cure.

believe me, I totally empathize having had RD for 16 years now. it only gets worse, never better. It does take your life away from you in bits and pieces.

it will probably take some time for the new description to be used universally, but we have always known the difference. That said, I’ve never been told by a doc that it was pre-cancerous, nor has chemo been recommended to me.

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

on the bay · ‎03-09-2010

I don't have it but I've always known it was a different thing altogether than arthritis and that it involved the whole body and was a pretty devastating diagnosis.

Maybe it's because I've known friends with it and also have read about childhood RA.

I thought most knew that.

I also think it has gotten all the attention and taken seriously as a very difficult thing to have that a disease or whatever its labeled has gotten from doctors and others over the years.

Its not like it hasn't been recognized as something that can really change your quality of life.

"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew. Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"