“Rheumatoid arthritis still little known disease”

Rome, June 13. (beraking latest news Salute) – ?The path that leads to the acceptance of rheumatoid arthritis is long and tortuous, talking about RA is often a taboo also because it is a pathology that is still little known, unlike cardiovascular and oncological diseases. Not only that, rheumatic patients are unaware of the meaning of the word clinical remission. For this reason, providing information is one of the main objectives of patient associations to concretely support and help all people with rheumatic diseases?. Silvia Tonolo, president of Anmar (National Association of Rheumatic Patients), told beraking latest news Salute on the sidelines of the press conference ?Remission of rheumatoid arthritis: is the future now? The economic analysis in support of NHS, society and patients? promoted today in the Senate by AbbVie.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that in Italy costs the community over 2 billion euros every year, between direct and indirect costs. ?In the budgets of the Regions, only costs for hospitalizations and pharmacotherapy are mentioned? Tonolo underlines – in reality, even the patient has indirect costs that no one considers. Therefore achieving remission is very important: it means being able to stabilize the disease, guarantee the patient a good quality of life and above all allow him to return to work. Not everyone knows that the working days that rheumatic patients lose every year amount to 24 million. Costs that fall on the community”. “Today we have innovative therapies – continues Tonolo – which can lead to a good quality of life for which we must provide information and the information that Anmar has been carrying out for years, also through the website and social platforms, in a correct and transparent way is essential in order not to create inconvenience to the patient especially after a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis?.
Tonolo also laments the fact that still today, as in the past, it is thought “unfortunately that rheumatological diseases are linked to advanced age”. In reality “they affect everyone, from 0 to 100 years old. However, many thinking about arthrosis or osteoporosis consider these pathologies exclusive to the elderly. They are wrong. Also in this case, information plays a fundamental role”, he concludes.