search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
"Arm yourself with as much information as you possibly can, and talk to people who have lived with arthritis for a while"


A family affair


TV presenter and radio DJ Jo Whiley reveals how rheumatoid arthritis has affected several close members of her family


“Arthritis is something that’s always been in my life,” says 53-year-old Jo Whiley, a woman who juggles a professional TV and radio career with life in Northamptonshire with her husband and four children. Jo is referring to rheumatoid arthritis, with her


grandmother, mother, father and aunt all living with the condition. According to the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society –


of which Jo is a celebrity supporter – more than 400,000 people in the UK have the condition. It is, however, often confused with osteoarthritis, which is usually associated with wear and tear of the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is an autoimmune


disease that causes inflammation in the joints. The cells that line the joints are attacked – by mistake – by the immune system, making the joints swollen, stiff and painful. It usually affects the hands, feet and wrists, but other parts of the body can be affected too. Some people with rheumatoid arthritis also experience other symptoms, including:


• Tiredness and lack of energy • High temperature • Sweating • Lack of appetite •Weight loss


6 All About health


If you have rheumatoid arthritis you will usually also experience flare-ups, which are periods when your symptoms become worse.


Pain: the main symptom Talking in Inspire, the magazine published by health charity Arthritis Care (www.arthritiscare.org.uk), Jo describes the effect rheumatoid arthritis symptoms have had on her family. “In my experience people aren’t aware of how painful arthritis can be,” she says. “If you happen to knock your ankle, knee or wherever your arthritis is, it’s excruciating. “I can see that through my dad. I don’t think people


realise the severity of that pain and how much it limits what you can do. The pain is also exhausting – it really takes it out of people. “Dad has had arthritis since I was a child, and my mum was


diagnosed in the past five years or so. Mum has had multiple operations on her joints and, on a bad day, she’ll be confined to the house, which she hates. She was always a really active, go-getting kind of person, so for her to be stuck in a chair and not be able to go out really annoys her.” Simple things that most of us do every day without


thinking, says Jo, are difficult for her parents. “Mobility is really hard for both of them. They have to consider how much walking there will be, whether they will be able to park


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52