Renaming Rheumatoid Arthritis
By LanaPA
July 25 at 9:09 am
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A few months back, I read an article by blogger, Kelly Young, whose blog is titled “RA Warrior.” Here is the link to that article. http://rawarrior.com/we-refuse-to-be-mislabel...
Kelly, in her article, argues that renaming RA to Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease would keep it from being mistaken as just arthritis. That is not to downplay the significance of osteoarthritis but the fact is that RA is not a form of arthritis. Arthritis is just one of its many symptoms. RA is an autoimmune disease and should be treated as such.
My question to you: if rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were renamed rheumatoid autoimmune disease (RAD), do you think the public would stop confusing it with osteoarthritis? Do you think that a name change can bring about more awareness and funding for better treatment options and perhaps a cure?
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SuSewSew July 28 at 1:27 pm1 LikeIt's definately not rad to have RA. That said…it's taken decades to get people to understand that there are many types/forms of arthritis (currently over 120). My parents stil say I have "rheumatism"! When someone asks what I have and I respond with RA (rheumatoid arthritis) they usually nod and say they know someone else too. "RAD" might give a false impression. Having a "RAD flare-up" does not mean I feel fabulous.
I understand Kelly is looking to make sense of the whole autoimmune thing but it's confusing to the majority of people. How many times have you come across a term that has changed often with the prevailing "politically correct" years? As long as people know rheumatoid is crippling we are winning. Please don't get bogged down in details…save it for drs and those who really want to know.
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