Under the spotlight
New technology enables clinicians to potentially predict flares, explains Dr Alexander Oldroyd
Not everyone is familiar with many aspects of new technology. It changes so fast that even the moderately savvy can feel left behind. But its potential is breathtaking… and life changing.
The development of smartphone apps has, for example, opened up opportunities for researchers to collect data from people with healthcare conditions. This enables a greater depth of understanding, and ultimately better ways to tackle healthcare conditions and enhance daily living.
Low awareness of vitamin D puts the nation’s bone health at risk
Despite vitamin D being essential for healthy bones, only 37% of Brits realise that you can’t get vitamin D from sunlight between the end of September and beginning of April in the UK, according to recent research from the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS).
DNA change and the risk of arthritic disease: Prof Stephen Eyre unravels the complex world of gene editing
It’s clear that some arthritic diseases have a genetic risk. People with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis and juvenile arthritis, often claim it “runs in the family”, and they’re right. Sometimes, some diseases do have a genetic risk. Genes, in the form of DNA, can influence the chance of developing these diseases.
People with arthritis take part in pioneering research that improves quality of life for future generations, reports Dr Stephanie Ling
A rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis today has vastly different implications than it did in the past. That’s because we have a deeper understanding of the condition and have developed much better medication – including biologics – to control it. But there is still further to go. We know biologics change lives. Yet they work better for some people than others, and some biologics don’t work on some people at all. Why?
Moving from education into the workplace has a unique set of challenges for young people with arthritis, explains Dr Janet E McDonagh
Our expectation of milestones we should reach when we are young is fairly rigid. School exams lead to work, perhaps with a stint at college or university in between. In general, it’s pretty straightforward… unless you have a chronic health condition. And one that’s invisible to everyone else can be more challenging still.
