Arthritis - Rheumatologist

'I am sure that if my GP had not been so good and referred me to rheumatologist in Christ Church Hospital I would not still be working,' wrote a sixty-year-old woman from Bournemouth. 'I have so much support from the team, which includes practitioners and occupational therapists. I have a demanding job but adjustments are regularly made so that I came continue to work.'

'My rheumatologist is top-drawer,' wrote a housewife from Maryland. 'He's up on the latest data, sees more actual cases of arthritis, and thus he inspires more confidence. He listens more, cares more, due to his very choice of rheumatology as a specialty. He advises correctly and adds caution where necessary.'

In cold, hard statistics, rheumatologists top the charts. Nearly half of those rated in the US survey and over half of those rated I in the UK survey were credited with helping participants attain dramatic long-term relief. Here are the figures.

What do these numbers mean? They mean that your chances of finding help with a rheumatologist are better than four out of live, since in both surveys over 85 percent of those rated were able to provide at least temporary relief or better.

The rheumatologist was the most helpful,' said a New York actress, 'since he advised exercise and weight loss as being the best treatment He instructed me on daily exercises that would strengthen my muscles and reduce the stress on my joints, and these have given me excellent help.'

Over and over, we heard our participants tell of months or years spent wondering what their problem was — until they either were referred to a rheumatologist or wound up in one's office through sheer persistence. The acceleration of my osteoarthritis is the result of an inherited blood disease,' reported a fifty-year-old chemist from California. 'Before this was diagnosed, my advanced arthritis condition puzzled the following practitioners: internist, acupuncturist, body worker, podiatrist, and orthopedic surgeon. Finally, a rheumatologist identified the primary cause and much of the picture fell into place.'
It took going to four different doctors before finally getting to this rheumatologist and getting proper treatment,' recalled a thirty-seven-year-old radio disc jockey from Louisiana. In that six-month searching period, I became totally disabled. Despite continued misdiagnosis, I kept trying different doctors until I got to this specialist.'

My present rheumatologist,' wrote a clinical laboratory supervisor from Ohio, 'knows the pain is real, not imaginary. He is compassionate, encouraging, and sympathetic, while also reassuring me that I will be able to cope and adapt.' A retired teacher from South Carolina thanked her rheumatologist for being 'not only extremely helpful, but a great morale booster, too.'



Looking just at the reports from US survey participants with rheumatoid arthritis, we find that 57 percent of rheumatologists treating them are able to give dramatic long-term help. The comments from these participants are likewise more glowing: 'I can honestly say my rheumatologist was a godsend,' wrote a nursing-home administrator from Pennsylvania, whose rheumatologist is treating her with an experimental drug. 'I was in so much pain, and he knew exactly what to try and what to do to help. If I'd found him sooner, I would never have lost any joints.'

For those US survey participants with osteoarthritis, on the other hand, 'only" 34 percent of rheumatologists achieved dramatic long-term results. This is still an extremely good track record. What's more, when we add on the figures for moderate long-term improvement and temporary help, it turns out that fully 79 percent of our US survey participants with osteoarthritis who saw a rheumatologist also saw some improvement