yesterday i were asking my GP about new treatments for RA , saying i didnt believe anything is being done , lots of drugs are 50 years old .. this is what she said ... ,, she strongly believes its only about now , that RA is being looked into . studies / research .. along with new treatments being developed .. because RA mainly effects woman , and back in the day , when all doctors , scientist were men , MP s and the NHS top rank .. very little was done about things like ,, breast cancer ,miscarriages, to name a few .. but over the last decade , great steps have being made with all these now , and its just the begining and its the same with RA ..
she got a point ???
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creekybones
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I agree with that one. I work in a hospital where we had a surgeon who was the 1st female surgeon to be admitted as a member to a make dominated society.
She was a formidable character' old school ' consultant, but an exceptionally talented surgeon.
Women now are being recognised for their exceptional research and inovative ideas.
The rich rewards also come with the inherent ability to care. This may be reflective of the areas that further research is being done.
Somebody stil enjoying and watching ITV at 8.30, last one tonight. Can't remember the last time a woman won! Girl Power at last in the jungle! Although I am more for the gents opening a door for me.
I've been comparing dermatologists with rheumatologists. The former have to consider many different possibilities before they can diagnose while in my experience rheumatologists are frequently knee jerk and very dictatorial. they seem to latch on to a particular idea and find it hard to question once they've made up their minds. This morning the extremely posh young woman dermatologist just said that she was wrong about a minor detail. But it really impressed me!
I wonder whether because RA is popularly associated with older people and mainly women, that they've developed this very categorical attitude. And then there's thoughts about pain and our ability to bracket it away a lot of the time.
I think there is definitely something about it being predominantly a womens disease - not the least being that for chronic stuff, women put up with a lot more before they will seek treatment - mostly because they can't afford to be out of action with hospitals and doctors when they have kids to look after.
There is definitley a load more research and information about RA now, but when it will filter through to GPs is another matter - or even a lot of the specialists. Interestingly, I believe most GPs are now in a formal training and updating scheme as part of NHS contracts but there is no real requirement for specialists to update their knowledge. Also there is the budget issue - that treating RA with some of the newer and more effective drugs is a lot more expensive than using the old ones.
I am also really concerned about lumping so much into the OA or degeneration basket the moment you get over 50, or even earlier - that means that folk with OA or degeneration that is the result of untreated and undiagnosed RA or spondyloarthritis just aren't getting a good deal and their disease will continue to progress.
Yes, deifnitely more info needed by all kinds of doctors.
It goes back in history that women are treated as second class citizens and medically it probably reached the worst point in british culture with the victorians who saw women as born to get ill even though they worked the working class ones to death. Victorian views are everywhere still under the surface and they are strong in medical circles. medicine is fsacinating because some hospitals look like victorian museums still in places and some docs sound and act like that especially about women but at the top end it's as high tech as you can get.
I'm sure this is true - I found my gynaecologist easily the most patronising and autocratic consultant I've ever met - even though i was rather chuffed to be called "a gynacologically healthy young woman"! My rheum has been very personable and perfectly professional towards me but I sense this is because he knows I come on here (wrote a piece for the last NRAS mag) because at the start I felt mocked a bit by him when I asked what I should expect if diagnosed with RA here. And I hate it when OA is referred to as "just wear and tear" because if someone has aggressive and widespread OA then this would just finish their self esteem off? We dont say "just a bit of dementia" do we?
I think I've been very lucky to have such a great GP (a man) and I know bad women doctors do exist too of course. But there's such a power relationship with consultants and patients that patriarchal men always make my blood boil. It has to be teamwork between doctor and patient - and if someone is talking down or over you then this is unprofessional as there can be no trust or confidence. I think this is the case in all areas of health but with a condition as variable as inflammatory arthritis its really extra important that the consultant is foward thinking and listens to his or her patient. I used to know a top dermatologist and he said to my care worker OH that he felt his job was like being a care worker (apart from the pay and work conditions, hours and lack of respect of course!) in that it was very hands on and that he found that healing those made so vulnerable by afflictions of the skin was profoundly moving and rewarding. I hope rheumatologists feel like this too but I think there's something about painful skin that brings out the best in some doctors because its so irefutable - whereas pain in joints and other symptoms of RA are often so hard to prove?
hi i have been diagnosed with ra september privatly i have to see nhs consultant next week my very nice private man told me and recomended that i be put on mtx or some thnd as im nhs ing heavier though he did say the heavier drugs cost 10000 a year and as im nhs dont expect to be put on them so as usual i think alot comes down to cost unforuanatley even thogh we pay in
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First rheumatology appointment
Had my rheumy appointment. 
See Doc and now confused
HRT postmenopause anyone?
