304

dreamdaisy

That's a fairly substantial number, isn't it? I was having a coffee earlier today with a friend who has RA and is a rheumatology nurse. I said that any auto-immune arthritis was complex, that I could name around six and that I thought there were around 200.

'And the rest,' she said, 'I have a list of 304 rheumatological conditions and syndromes in the office but it's a couple of years old and probably more have been discovered.'

Food for thought, yes? DD

stickywicket

And the meds are still the same

LignumVitae

Food for thought indeed. It makes my blood boil a little when you think of all the people (me included with my first useless rheumatologist) who get the line 'your blood test is negative for an RA factor so it's not arthritis'. Lazy lazy way of treating arthritis - how many of the 304 will be RA factor negative? How many people are suffering and struggling without proper treatment with an arthritis which isn't fully understood and therefore undiagnosed. How lucky are we (?) to be 'believed', diagnosed of sorts and treated? Admittedly being negative for all 304 would make us luckier but that's a whole different ball game.

AnnaMilton

dreamdaisy wrote:

'And the rest,' she said, 'I have a list of 304 rheumatological conditions and syndromes in the office but it's a couple of years old and probably more have been discovered.'

Food for thought, yes? DD

Yes, but they do share one common characteristic that if you get diagnosed early, you can still preserve your mobility and reduce pain with right treatment plan designed with help of right doctor. Whereas on the other hand, it’s not uncommon for doc to make decisions and diagnosis based strictly on blood tests mentioned in those theory books. Ohh, what are the complications :roll: !!

So, if you look normal on paper but still know in your heart that something is wrong with you; The only way is do not stop searching for answers !!!

Anna.

stickywicket

My earlier response was half-flippant but....there are a lot of questions I'd like to ask:

1. If there are so many types of arthritis how come the diagnostic tests are so poor and / or take so long?

2. If there are so many types of arthritis how come the treatment(s) is / are virtually the same?

3. Are these actually different beasts or just very slight variations on a theme?

4. How relevant – to patients and to docs treating them – are the differences?

barbara12

food for thought indeed , it is certainly time things moved on treatment wise and diagnoses wise...I have 2 friends that have ended up going private, because they just couldn't get help off the rheumy they did see, :roll:

dreamdaisy

I guess the treatments are the same because there is one common faulty element, namely the over-active immune system. That can affect us in many ways but there are limited options when it comes to switching it 'off'. I guess there are also variations on a common theme ( e.g. the effects of my Sjogren's may be different to yours) and in this day-and-age people demand to be labelled, thinking it might change their treatment or bring about a 'cure'. DD

stickywicket

Yeees. And no There are many auto-immune diseases which are not under the arthritis umbrella eg Addison's Disease, Pernicious Anaemia to name but two. i've no idea what the treatments are for these but I'd guess not DMARDS or anti-tnfs. It's a funny old world.

Starburst

I didn't realise until recently but Type 1 Diabetes is also an autoimmune disease.