How Are You Promoting Arthritis Awareness This Month?

More than 46 million Americans have some form of arthritis.  Many people do not know how arthritis affects the individuals who have it, their families and friends, their coworkers, their finances, their health insurance premiums, their quality of life, etc.

What are you doing to promote awareness of this disease that is the leading cause of disability?  This disease that affects more than 300,000 children in the United States?  The toll of arthritis is rising.  We should be educating others about it. 

Since May is Arthritis Awareness month, this is the perfect time to help promote this debilitating disease that has no cure. 

Here are some suggestions on what you can do:

• share your story with someone
• write a letter to your Congressional representative about how arthritis affects you or someone in your family
• write a letter to your Congressional representative supporting the Arthritis Prevention Control & Cure Act
• ask others to write their Congressional representatives
• send in an editorial to your local newspaper
• participate in or volunteer at a local Arthritis Foundation Arthritis Walk
• proudly display your Arthritis Awareness items
• register to be an Arthritis Advocate with the Arthritis Foundation

There are many ways to show your support.  Just choose what suits you best and let us know how you promote Arthritis Awareness!

How Many Pediatric Rheumatologists are in Your Local Area?

originally published 5/28/08

Did you know that Juvenile Arthritis affects approximately 300,000 children in the United States?  Unfortunately, there are not enough pediatric rheumatologists to cover the demand.  It may not affect you as an adult, however, if your child, niece, nephew, friend’s child, neighbor’s child, etc., is one of the 300,000, it will affect them tremendously.  The problem is this: If a child has a form of juvenile arthritis and it goes undiagnosed for a significant period of time, the child may suffer the consequences.  It is very important that children are diagnosed as early as possible so the necessary treatment can begin.  Otherwise, the affected joint(s) may continue to sustain pain, swelling, joint damage, etc.  Later in life, this could lead to deterioration of the affected joint, which affects quality of life and may well lead to joint replacement, joint fusion or some other type of significant treatment.

How do I know this?  I was one of those children back in the 70’s.  For as long as I can remember, I have had joint pain, swelling, tenderness, etc.  In those days, if you went to the family doctor or emergency room, you were told that it was probably just a sprain.  For years, this occurred until I finally saw a pediatric rheumatologist who diagnosed me with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA).  The problem is that it was undiagnosed for eleven years.  By then, significant damage had already occurred in the ankle joint.  I could keep telling my long story, but to get to the point, I had to have a total ankle replacement at the age of 30.  It was a long time coming, but that is an early age to have a joint replacement.

My point is that children need to be diagnosed early to help prevent significant problems down the road.  Will it prevent significant problems by 100%?  Surely not, but we owe it to our children and the children of this nation to help provide them the best care they can get. 

How can you help?  It’s easy!  Support the Arthritis Prevention Control and Cure Act.  It calls for more pediatric rheumatologists among other necessities.  The Arthritis Foundation makes it simple to show your support.  Just go to the Arthritis Foundation’s Arthritis Action Center and enter your zip code in the “Find Your Officials” box.  The resulting page will show your officials and will have an “Action Alert” box.  Just follow the links from that point on.

Just for kicks, try searching for a pediatric rheumatologist in your area.  You’ll probably be surprised to see that they are few and far between.  About a month ago, I checked for pediatric rheumatologists in Kentucky.  Unfortunately, I only found two full-time pediatric rheumatologists and they are both in Louisville.  The really sad thing about this is that Kentucky is the second-highest state for the prevalence of arthritis.  In other words, the Kentucky population has a higher percentage of arthritis than most of the other states.  However, we only have two full-time pediatric rheumatologists to serve the children with arthritis and many of those children will have to travel hours just to see the doctor.  Pretty sad if you ask me.

Write your Congressman! The APCCA Needs Your Support!

originally published 5/15/08

The Arthritis Prevention Control and Cure Act (APCCA) desperately needs your attention.  It has been introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 1283) and the Senate (S. 626) in 2007.  However, it is still in Committee.  We need to get it out of Committee. 

What can you do?  It’s simple.  Write your Congressman.  The Arthritis Foundation’s Action Center makes it easy for you to do this.  They have standard letters you can use and they make it easy to determine where your letter should go.  Start with a standard template and add your personal story.  However you decide to do it is fine, just please write your Congressman and support the Arthritis Prevention Control and Cure Act.

If you have any problems, let me know.  I’ll be happy to help.

Arthritis Walk…Going to the Dogs?

originally published 5/10/08

The Arthritis Foundation’s Arthritis Walk was held today for the Lexington, KY area.  I look forward to it because it is a place where you can meet great people, learn something new from one of the sponsors and walk for a good cause. 

I must say I had a great time today!  The participants, sponsors and volunteers were a joy to talk with, as usual.  The kid’s tent had activities and face painting and the Arthritis Advocacy tent encouraged participants to support the Arthritis Prevention Control and Cure Act (APCCA).  With all of this, it was a great morning!  However, my daughter seemed to think the best part of the event was seeing all of the different dogs.  She had to go around to each dog to pet it, always asking the pet owner, of course. 

I am glad that we took the time to do this because we learned quite a bit by talking to the pet owners.  Some of the dogs in attendance had arthritis and their owners were walking for them.  Some of the other pet owners were walking for themselves or someone else.  We even met some therapy dogs!

It just goes to show that arthritis does not just affect us humans.  Dogs get arthritis too!  So, bring your dog when you attend your local Arthritis Walk.  They will have as much fun as you will!

Learn more about arthritis in canines from the Arthritis Foundation.

National Arthritis Month

originally published 5/3/08

As many of you know, May is National Arthritis Month.  As such, we should do our part to promote it.  There are many things you can do.  You can help to promote Arthritis Awareness, volunteer with your local Arthritis Foundation chapter, support the Arthritis Prevention Control and Cure Act (APCCA), be helpful to someone with arthritis that could use some help, attend your local Arthritis Walk, make a donation to further arthritis research, etc.  If you are not sure where to start, then take some time this month to determine where your talents lie.  You may be surprised about how much you have to offer!