Arthritis awareness videos

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This blog is to raise public awareness about various rheumatic diseases and is not intended for any other purpose.

SLE (LUPUS)with Myositis & her long journey and successful pregnancy

Even during normal pregnancy, there is a 1% risk to mother and foetus. In patients with rheumatological diseases, the pregnancy risk is much more amplified, and it is even higher in lupus (SLE, systemic lupus). However, with appropriate treatment, pregnancy outcomes are much better with modern medicines. The main barriers are a lack of understanding of the disease process (patient awareness). Here is one patient with a long, successful lupus journey with arthritis and myositis (muscle involvement) and a well-planned pregnancy under strict guidance with a successful outcome.

Patient awareness meet

Common Rheumatology diseases

What is Sjogrens syndrome?

Rheumatoid arthritis

Early arthritis success maintenance failure

This patient has had rheumatoid arthritis for the last 10 years. She had been doing well on her medications for five years. Since she is feeling normal and is apprehensive about medication use, she decided to stop taking medicines for a few years and want to observe. She noticed gradual joint pains a few months after stopping medication, and later she had explosive disease and lost her fingers as the inflammation was overwhelmed and started attacking her own blood vessels supplying the finger. She became crippled. Now she has returned to normal with medication but is left with permanent deformities. So the lesson here is that success needs to be maintained. Most of the patients did not know that some types of arthritis are chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and land in unneccessary joint and organ issues.

This is another story of maintenance failure and this gentlemen doing well on medicines stopped medicines and few years later he developed lung tuberculosis and worsening joint pains. This is another example of skewed immunity to proinfective mode and arthritis mode. 

TB Uveitis

Tuberculosis can affect any part of the body. This patient presented with chronic bilateral red eyes & photophobia. Diagnosed as uveitis due to tuberculosis. 

Early lupus success and success well maintained

Here is a young lady who came to us in 2018. She was diagnosed with lupus with kidney involvement (high proteins in the urine; leaky kidneys). She received continuous treatment, later got married, and delivered a healthy child on medications. Lupus generally increases during pregnancy, but this lady on regular medications underwent a normal delivery and delivered a healthy child. Postpartum, she is on regular follow-up. The message here is that early, continuous treatment is very cheap and effective.

Early lupus success and success not maintained


This patient is decently educated and was diagnosed with arthritis and ANA positivity. She is doing well on medicines and switched to alternative therapy (misconceptions), and after 2 years she had a severe skin flare due to the disease (Lupus) that caused disfiguring lesions over her face. Lupus awareness is very important.


Early lupus success and success well maintained


Refractory Rheumatoid arthritis

Refractory rheumatoid arthritis is an arthritis where even three drug combinations fail to give appreciable relief from joint pain and swelling. Here is one such patient who was normal with one medicine and later stopped treatment for 7 years, and the disease came back with vengeance, and he needs three drugs with minimal relief. He changed to another doctor for his joint pains. Later, he developed a very rare infection (only a few cases have been reported in the world) and came back to us with a high fever and the worst pains. We gently treated him with an appropriate drug combination and an 18-month medication course for a rare infection. We counselled him to have faith, and to our surprise, after 4 months, the disease is no longer refractory, and he came walking to the hospital from the bus station. The message here is that continuous medications will do wonders, even in refractory arthritis. He being an ex-armyman has all the courage to face the toughest situations in his life.


Severe Psoriatic arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis has many types. This gentleman came to our hospital with severe joint pains all over his body and could not even walk a few steps. He was diagnosed with psoriatic polyarthritis and started on medicines. He responded well within 2 months, remained almost pain-free, and the psoriatic lesions disappeared. He has been on regular medication for the last 3 years and is doing well. We will counsel lifestyle changes too, and he has reduced his weight from 100 to 90 kg. The message here is that early awareness about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis is very important. A family history of psoriasis is a strong risk factor for arthritis too. In this background, if anyone notices a few joint pains, that is the time to meet a rheumatologist early to prevent a severe presentation as this patient suffered. Sometimes the disease can be so severe that it affects even the joints, and bones will melt due to inflammation, which can potentially deform the involved joints.