Have you got The S Factor?

• Stiffness - Early morning joint stiffness lasting more than 30 minutes

• Swelling - Persistent swelling of one joint or more,especially hand joints

• Squeezing - Squeezing the joints is painful in inflammatory arthritis

The S-factor poster is part of a public awareness campaign launched in a series of broadcast interviews by Dr Hilary Jones on the 10th November 2011.  The campaign was developed by the Rheumatology Futures Project Group(RFPG)* (scroll to bottom of page for details), NRAS and the Arthritis Research UK and endorsed and supported by the Royal College of GPs and The Primary Care Rheumatology Society.

If you have any symptoms highlighted in the poster which might possibly relate to rheumatoid arthritis, then seek help from your GP, don’t delay!

If you are willing to take one of these posters to display in your GP surgery, your library, local pharmacy or any other public place, please download the poster to print off or please contact us and we’ll send you some.

Please also watch the NRAS Video about Early Diagnosis - a quick diagnosis can make a real difference.

The Inflammatory Arthritis Patient Information Pathway

To go alongside the launch of the S-Factor campaign, NRAS and Arthritis Research UK have continued the work done by the Rheumatology Futures Group to publish an Inflammatory Arthritis Patient Pathway. Inflammatory Arthritis (IA) is the term used to describe a range of conditions – including the 3 most common forms of inflammatory arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis and Psoriatic Arthritis, which affect the immune system. Described as ‘autoimmune diseases’, they each have their own characteristics and can strike at any age. However, what these diseases have in common is that the body’s immune system is wrongly triggered to attack your own body, causing pain, stiffness, damage to joints and, if left untreated, possibly disability. They are systemic diseases which means that they can affect the whole body and even internal organs such as the lungs, heart and eyes, although this is certainly not the case for everyone.

There is no cure of these diseases, but managed well, people diagnosed today can expect to lead relatively normal lives. For more information about these diseases, click on the links below and elsewhere on this website! There are six steps on the pathway, as shown below, which is followed by a list of the organisations that can help with information about any of the steps on the pathway.

Step 1    Recognising symptoms before seeking help
Step 2    Visiting the GP for the first time
Step 3    Seeing the specialist for the first time following referral
Step 4    Tests, treatments and information
Step 5    On-going care
Step 6    Long term disease and complications

To visit the NRAS Inflammatory Arthritis Patient Information Pathway please click here

Organisations who can help

Arthritis Care

Arthritis Care exists to support people with all forms of arthritis. They are the UK’s largest charity working with and for all people who have arthritis. Arthritis Care campaigns for change and offers practical support and information so that people can learn to take control of their arthritis and make positive changes to their lives.Helpline: 0808 800 4050  General enquiries: 020 7380 6500
Email: Info@arthritiscare.org.uk
Website: www.arthritiscare.org.uk

Arthritis Research UK

Arthritis Research UK is the charity leading the fight against arthritis by funding high class research, providing information and campaigning.Phone: 01246 558033
Email: Enquiries@arthritisresearchuk.org
Website: www.arthritisresearchuk.org

Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre

BARC promote ‘self care’ and ‘self-management’, supporting people with chronic and painful arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions to cope with their problems through information provided in a variety of forms and aimed at the multi-cultural society that makes up Birmingham. Phone: Tel: 0121 464 2708
Email: info@bham.ac.uk
Website: www.barc.org.uk

National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS)

National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society is the only charity which focuses specifically on providing support, help and information for people with rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, their families, friends and carers, and health professionals with an interest in rheumatoid arthritis. NRAS have groups and volunteers across the UK, and offer matched peer support. Helpline: 0800 298 7650  General enquiries: 0845 458 3969 / 01628 823524
Email: Enquiries@nras.org.uk  
Website: www.nras.org.uk

National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (NASS)

NASS is the only registered charity in the UK working exclusively for people with AS and their families.Phone: 020 8948 9117  
Email: Admin@nass.co.uk
Website: www.nass.co.uk

The Psoriasis Association

The Psoriasis Association is the leading national membership organisation for people affected by psoriasis - patients, families, carers and health professionals.Phone: 08456 760 076  
Email: Mail@psoriasis-association.org.uk
Website: www.psoriasis-association.org.uk

What is RA?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive and disabling auto-immune disease affecting approximately 690,000 people in the UK adult population.

It is a disease in which the immune system attacks the tissue within the joint, leaving it painful and inflamed. If left untreated, the joint can lose its shape and alignment, and can eventually become unstable and ultimately, completely destroyed.

It is a painful condition, and can lead to disability (this varies between individuals and depends on how severe/aggressive the disease is) and ultimately can affect a person’s ability to carry out activities of daily living.

The disease can progress very rapidly (again the speed of progression varies widely between individuals) or more slowly, causing swelling and damaging cartilage and bone around the joints.

Any joint may be affected but it is commonly the hands, feet and wrists. It is a systemic disease which means that it doesn’t just affect joints, it can affect the whole body and internal organs (although this is not the case for everyone with RA) such as the lungs, heart and eyes.

It affects approximately three times more women than men and onset is generally between 40 - 60 years of age although it can occur at any age. There are around 15,000 children under the age of 16 with the juvenile form of the disease. We do not know what causes it although various ideas include environmental triggers such as virus, infection, stress, trauma have been suggested. Cigarette smoking is an important precipitating factor.

Furthermore, smoking makes the outlook for the RA worse. So far, we cannot cure it, but we now understand much more about the inflammatory process and how to manage it. RA is a lot more common than leukaemia and multiple sclerosis.

However, because RA and its effects are not well publicised, awareness of the severity of the condition tends to be restricted to those who are directly affected or their carers and relatives.

The good news is that the prognosis today, if diagnosed and treated early, is significantly better than it was 20-30 years ago and many people have a much better quality of life in spite of having RA.

RA is economically costly. In fact the economic burden of RA in terms of loss of productivity amounts to £8 billion1. We now know that uncontrolled RA increases mortality through an increased risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks and strokes; again the need for early treatment is imperative.


Reference:

   1. National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, Economic Burden of RA Report, 2010

*The Rheumatology Futures Project Group (RFPG)

The RFPG was a coalition of patient and professional organisations representing the entire rheumatology community (primary care, hospital care, consultants, GPs, nurses and allied health professionals, patient organisations) and the pharmaceutical industry.

The RFPG was specifically formed in 2007 to develop and execute a collaborative and clearly‐defined programme of work to identify barriers to providing high‐quality rheumatology services for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) across England, and to explore what high quality care should look like and how it could be delivered and was limited to a three year, time limited project which ended summer 2010.

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