An early diagnosis is key to ensuring a higher quality of life for those suffering from arthritis, leading medical experts have said.
The condition, which is often regarded as an invisible disease, can cause serious mental and physical anguish for those living with it.
However, early detection can help manage the condition allowing those with arthritis to lead a fulfilling life.
The National spoke to medical experts and people diagnosed with the disease, which causes swelling and tenderness in one or more joint, about how life can be affected by arthritis.
One of the main ways I manage my condition now is with my diet
Shama Khan,
Dubai resident
“Most of the damage that is caused to the joints happens in the first two or three years,” said Dr Ghita Harifi, a consultant rheumatologist and a member of the Middle East Arthritis Foundation.
“There is a window of opportunity to treat arthritis. We need to get that early diagnosis so we can treat patients when it’s at the inflammatory stage.”
The disease affects one in five people in the UAE, including children, said Dr Harifi, who was speaking before World Arthritis Day on October 12.
People with arthritis tend to have lower life expectancy than the general population, she said.
Globally, 60 per cent of people suffering from arthritis are aged between 18 and 64.
The World Health Organisation estimated there are up to 14 million people worldwide with rheumatoid arthritis.
Exercise and remain active
One Dubai resident who was recently diagnosed with arthritis was PE teacher Dale Rooney, 30, from Hull in northern England.
“I started noticing the symptoms when I was about 24 but it was in the last two years that I started to really feel my body deteriorating a lot,” said Mr Rooney, who was diagnosed in January.
“I used to play rugby a lot but had to stop earlier this year. The worst thing is the fear that comes with it.
“I am worried that my body is going to deteriorate more in the future.”
Since being diagnosed, Mr Rooney has been receiving medication which has helped him to manage his condition.
Exercising and remaining active have also played a huge role in allowing him to cope with the disease.
“I’ve started walking more, as well and going to the gym, and I find that has helped immensely,” he said.
“I can’t go 'hell for leather' any more, but I find I feel twice as good when I am exercising and active.
“I feel rusty when I wake up but if I exercise, I feel much better — both physically and mentally.”
Another Dubai resident who has learnt to live with arthritis is Shama Khan, 61, a former lecturer from Chennai in eastern India.
“I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1995. I was limping along and living with the increased pain threshold until around 2008 when I was introduced to a doctor who offered a new course of treatment,” she said.
“One of the main ways I manage my condition now is with my diet. I have gone completely vegan and do a lot of meditation and yoga, which has helped dramatically.
“I can still do my daily chores and go for walks, if I feel the pain increasing then I adjust my routine accordingly.”
One Dubai-based doctor said part of the issue around arthritis awareness is it does not have the same high profile as other conditions that are less common.
“It affects so many people, from a young age upwards, but it isn’t discussed as openly as other diseases,” said Dr Nasr Al Jafari, a family medicine consultant who specialises in gut health.
“It can be extremely painful and incapacitate people from carrying out their daily lives.”
A person’s lifestyle and diet could play a major part in treating the symptoms, he added.
“It’s important to minimise the factors that cause stress to a body,” he said.
“That includes getting seven and a half to nine hours of sleep each night and reducing the amount of processed foods you eat.
“It’s not practical to just eat locally produced food and only drinking spring water, but it is possible to find a compromise to reduce how vulnerable your immune system is.”
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones
3/5 stars
