Hundreds in Yeovil suffer from rheumatoid arthritis

HELP is available for hundreds of people in Yeovil who live with the painful rheumatoid arthritis disease.

The Yeovil group of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society will be hosting a meeting on Wednesday, September 18, for anyone affected by the disease - which causes pain and swelling in the joints - to go along and find out more about the condition and the care and support available.

The meeting will be held at the Holy Trinity Church and Community Centre on Lysander Road, Yeovil, starting at 7pm on September 18.

 An estimated 400 people in Yeovil live with the disease, 9,000 people across the whole of Somerset. Many of these are young people, still in the prime of their working life or with a young family. Onset normally occurs when people are between the ages of 40 and 60 so it is not the old age disease that many people assume it to be.

Ailsa Bosworth, chief executive of NRAS and herself a rheumatoid arthritis patient, said: "As RA is a lifelong condition it is important for those affected by the disease learn more about it and try to understand it better and that is what these groups aim to achieve.

"By bringing people together so they can share their experiences, it enables them to take ownership of the management of their disease."

The Yeovil NRAS group is part of a network of 40 support groups located across the country, members of which all have rheumatoid arthritis so understand exactly what it is like to have the condition.

If you are worried about rheumatoid arthritis - please call the charity's freephone helpline on 0800-298-7650 or visit www.nras.org.uk .

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