Rheumatoid Arthritis, Aging, and Other Top Myths

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… Continued …

Myth#5: rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is more likely to run in families!

Yap, having a family history of RA can increase the risk. If you have a family member with it (especially for the first degree relatives such as mother, father, sister, brother) – your risk to have the same problem is higher than general population!

But the good news, the role of genetic trait in triggering and causing the disease is very small, according to some studies (see more in this post)! This is different to what happen in diabetes.

Myth#6: You need to take surgical treatments to cope with it!

The use of surgery for RA gradually decreases year by year. In about 300 people with RA, only about 25 percent of them take surgery.

Even in 2007, the number decreases up to 5 percent – according to one study. It seems the new aggressive non-surgical treatments (such as the use of biologic medications) play a role in this decline.

However, surgery can be one of treatment options. It may be used when other treatments fail to work or when the damage of the joint occurs to the point that you cannot cope.

Myth#7:  If you have RA, you don’t need exercise and physical therapy is useless!

Your body is designed to have adequate physical activity every day. Even though you have any arthritis form (including RA), exercise is still important for your overall health.

In arthritis, exercise can help boost and maintain the strength of muscles surrounding the joint, providing strong support for the joint when moving. It is important to maintain your mobility and living skills, such as walking and standing – and great for your weight control, too!

Even regular exercise is one of the most recommended natural treatments to help cope with RA. How about physical therapy? Is it a waste of time and money?

Like in exercise, physical therapy is actually not a waste of time at all. The core of the treatment is to control the inflammation. However again, you also need to remain active as much as you could in order to maintain the health of your muscles, bones, and joints!

And taking physical therapy can be helpful. Your professional physical therapist can help teach you how to exercise in the right way. This is particularly helpful if you don’t know yet how to start your exercise!

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