By
Dina Behrman

Last updated at 9:45 PM on 18th February 2012

Laura Wright was just 15 when she won the BBC Radio 2 Chorister of the Year competition in 2005. For the soprano, now 21, the moment marked what she hoped would be the end of the ill-health that had threatened to rob her of both her singing ambitions – and her mobility.

When she was nine, Laura was told she might never walk again after contracting septic arthritis. ‘It was quite sudden,’ recalls the singer, who ran in the London Marathon last year and whose solo debut The Last Rose was No 1 in the classical charts for five weeks last year.

‘We were on holiday and I went for a jog with my dad and afterwards my right knee started to hurt. It got more and more painful, so my mum and dad took me to hospital.

Laura Wright has said that going through the health scare has made her more determined than ever

‘I was examined and scanned and they did all sorts of blood tests but could find nothing wrong, so I was sent home and told it would probably get better.’

However, the pain got worse. Within a month, Laura was confined to a wheelchair. She was admitted to hospital, where she remained for six months as doctors tried everything they could to get her back on her feet.

‘It turned out I had an infection in my knee,’ she says. ‘My leg felt much more comfortable bent rather than straight, but the doctors straightened it out and put it in a cast.

‘That’s when the infection began to spread through my entire body and I got very ill. At that point they were able to diagnose me with septic arthritis.’

Septic arthritis is an infection in a joint. Many different types of bacteria can cause it, but one called staphylococcus aureus is the most common culprit.

Bacteria can get to a joint via the bloodstream, from an infection in another part of the body, via an injury to the joint itself, or during surgery. Those suffering other types of arthritis are at higher risk, as are those with a compromised immune system – such as patients on chemotherapy or the elderly.

The knee is the site of infection in more than half of septic arthritis cases, and the hip is affected in about one in five cases. If the infection is treated promptly, there is a good chance of complete cure with no long-term problems. But if there is a delay in treatment, the infection can quickly destroy the joint, leading to long-term pain and disability.

Laura during her chorister days

In some cases, the infection becomes severe and leads to  potentially fatal blood poisoning – septicaemia.

Laura says: ‘I was in too much pain to walk and I was so weak I couldn’t eat anything. I was so young that they struggled to get fluids into my veins, and in the end they had to put the tubes in my neck. So then I was bedbound for quite some time. I had to have a nurse take me to the toilet and I had to have someone dress me. I couldn’t do anything myself.

‘Things got so bad that the doctors were worried I would never walk again. In fact, at one point they told my parents, “You should spend as much time with Laura as you can.”

After she was diagnosed, doctors tried different methods to treat her, including performing several operations to drain the fluid from her knee and prescribing various antibiotics to kill off the infection.

Eventually she recovered enough to leave hospital, but the road to recovery was a slow one.

‘When I went back to school I was in a wheelchair and then on crutches, hobbling around like a 90-year-old – it was utterly frustrating,’ she says. ‘But I know I was very lucky.

‘And I know that going through all that has definitely given me every ounce of determination and drive to embrace every opportunity I get.’

As soon as she was off the crutches, Laura threw herself into sport and was soon playing hockey for East of England. She also represented her county in netball. ‘I was super-keen because I had this opportunity I might not have had,’ she explains.

Today her right leg is weaker than her left, and it sometimes aches, but Laura isn’t letting it hold her back. ‘It’s a small price to pay so to me it doesn’t matter,’ she says.

These days she eats healthily and is conscious of managing stress levels. She goes to the gym four or five times a week and recently completed the Actimel Pedal to Paris, cycling an impressive 300 miles in aid of the Royal British Legion.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Elliot Sorene says: ‘The condition eats away at the cartilage and destroys the joint. In a child of that age, it could cause deformity or even lead to limb replacement, so Laura is lucky.

‘Such a condition may well lead to problems with arthritis in the future – she will probably have suffered some cartilage loss so the fact that she’s super-fit will help prevent this.’

Laura says: ‘Going through my health difficulties when I was younger was something that motivated me to do the bike ride. One of organisers told me the other day they were planning a trek across the Pyrenees – maybe that’ll be my next challenge.’

lLaura Wright’s The Last Rose is available on Decca Records

Share this article:

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2103125/Voice-angel-knees-pensioner-Soprano-Laura-Wright-speaks-battle-beat-septic-arthritis.html?ITO=1490

By
Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent

Last updated at 12:01 AM on 17th February 2012

Scientists have invented an electronic chip that could put an end to painful daily injections for osteoporosis sufferers.

The device, slipped under the skin, releases daily doses of the bone-building drug teriparatide.

In trials on elderly women, it worked just as well as regular injections of the medicine. 

Size comparison: The MicroCHIPS wireless drug-delivery device, right, which is placed in the body, is pictured next to a conventional computer memory stick

Crucially, many said the device – the first of its kind – was so comfortable that they often forgot it was there.

The chip can be adapted to dispense
other medicines and it is hoped it will be popular with those who
dislike injecting themselves, or find it difficult to do so due to
arthritis. It could also ensure better treatment. 

Although drugs such as teriparatide –
also known as Forsteo – work well, the lack of any outward sign that
they are improving health means that up to three-quarters of
osteoporosis patients stop taking them.

With the condition affecting 3million
Britons, the innovation could have a dramatic impact on quality of life,
the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual
conference in Vancouver, Canada, heard.

The device’s co-inventor, Robert
Langer, one of the world’s top scientists, said: ‘Patients are freed
from the daily reminder, or burden, of disease, by eliminating the need
for regular injections.’  

The chip contains a series of tiny
wells, each packed with a daily dose of teriparatide. The drug is so
potent, that a day’s supply is no bigger than a pin head. The wells,
which are sealed with an ultra-fine layer of titanium and platinum, pop
open either on a programmed schedule or in response to a wireless
signal.

Clear potential: MicroCHIPS president Robert Farra says the wireless device is fully programmable and can deliver the right drugs dosage even if patients forget

This rapidly releases the drug into the bloodstream.

The chip is housed in a casing which
also contains a battery, as well as the electronics needed for a
wireless signal and the control of drug release. The whole device is
about two inches in height.

The chip, which is about five years
from the market, takes 30 minutes to insert into the abdomen, just below
the skin. The operation is done under local anaesthetic and patients
can walk home afterwards.

Results of a trial on eight women,
published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, show chips
loaded with 20 days’ supply of treatment worked well in all but one
case. Scientists from MicroCHIPS, the U.S. firm commercialising the
device, are working on a chip that carries and dispenses hundreds of
doses.

Other illnesses that could be treated in this way include diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis and heart disease.

The inclusion of wireless technology would allow doctors to remotely alter the amount of drug dispensed as necessary.

Professor Langer, whose other
achievements range from growing an ear on the back of a mouse to
creating a spray that keeps frizzy hair at bay, said: ‘You could
literally have a pharmacy on a chip.’

Julia Thomson, of the National
Osteoporosis Society, said that swapping daily jabs for an implant would
make it easier for patients to take their drug.

Share this article:

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2102210/Chip-end-daily-jabs-osteoporosis.html?ITO=1490

By
Hilary Freeman

Last updated at 10:08 PM on 4th February 2012

Tiffany Robertson says she can do everything, including morris dancing

Children suffering the agony of juvenile arthritis – which can leave many wheelchair-bound and result in permanent deformity – have been offered hope from a new drug therapy.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the body that provides prescribing guidelines, has approved RoActemra (tocilizumab) to treat systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA). Currently incurable, sJIA is the most severe type of juvenile arthritis and affects about 2,500 under-16s in the UK.

It is an extremely debilitating inflammatory condition causing extreme joint pain, a distinctive salmon-coloured skin rash and a constant high fever. It can also lead to problems with the spleen, liver and heart that can be life-threatening.

Dr Eileen Baildam, a paediatric rheumatologist at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, says nobody knows the causes but it is thought to be an autoimmune condition, with a genetic component. ‘About a third of patients get better spontaneously, but two-thirds will continue to have serious flare-ups,’ she says.

One patient to have benefited already is 12-year-old Tiffany Robertson, who was five when she developed the condition. It left her in agony and bedridden for months. Her mother Kate, 34, from Southport, Merseyside, recalls: ‘The joints all over her body would swell up and stiffen and it could happen in one area or in several places at once: her hips, wrists, neck, ankles, fingers and toes.

RoActemra, previously used to treat adult
rheumatoid arthritis, works by blocking an immune system messenger
called IL-6, which causes fever and inflammation in joints and organs 

‘She couldn’t get herself to the bathroom and if I touched her, she would scream. At some points she needed a wheelchair. She was put on steroids, with terrible side effects. By the time she was seven, she was so bloated that she was wearing clothes for 11-year-olds. People stared at her, which made her very self-conscious. She missed so much school they put a bed for her in the classroom, so she could at least be around other children.’

Tiffany tried various medications but none worked for long. Until now, the commonly used treatments for sJIA were anti-inflammatory drugs – ibuprofen or corticosteroids and methotrexate – which often do not slow the progression of the disease.

RoActemra, previously used to treat adult rheumatoid arthritis, works by blocking an immune system messenger called IL-6, which causes fever and inflammation in joints and organs.

IL-6 is meant to protect the body against infection but malfunctions and attacks the body. The more damage that occurs, the more the immune system’s white cells produce IL-6 to fight the unknown invader.

The new drug will bring relief to nine in ten young patients

RoActemra was licensed for use following a five-year trial. Dr Baildam says the results were astounding. ‘After a year, two-thirds of patients had a 90 per cent improvement in their symptoms, which is extraordinary – three times as good as we had expected. For a lot of patients it switches off the condition. And it’s well tolerated with virtually no side effects. It gives thousands of children hope of restoring normality to day-to-day life.’

Eighteen months ago, just as she was about to start secondary school, Tiffany was allowed to try RoActemra, which is administered in hospital every two weeks by drip. ‘We were desperate,’ says Kate. ‘We didn’t want Tiffany to go on the trial because we were worried she would get a placebo and deteriorate even more, so she was prescribed the drug on compassionate grounds. After nine months we started to notice a difference and now you wouldn’t know she has sJIA.

‘She gets the odd niggle but she’s able to go to school every day and she even does morris dancing, travelling all over the North West. She’s a lot happier. The drug has made a huge difference to all our lives.’

Tiffany says: ‘I used to be very poorly, on and off, and miss school and going out with my friends, but now I can do everything I want to do, just like everybody else.

‘I am very thankful to my doctors and nurses for getting me the new medicine and looking after me.’

Share this article:

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2096448/Jab-ends-agony-childhood-arthritis-New-NHS-treatment-brings-relief-young-patients.html?ITO=1490

By
Alice Smellie

Last updated at 10:03 PM on 21st January 2012

Steve Hall, wearing his shoes, while carrying his son Matthew

They may look more like something a trendy teenager would wear, but a pair of custom-made, high-top trainers can offer patients relief from the crippling pain of knee arthritis.

There is no cure for the condition which accounts for one million GP appointments each year. Treatment traditionally involves painkillers, a knee replacement or other surgery. About 80,000 of these operations are carried out in the UK each year.

Osteoarthritis is damage to cartilage, the smooth surface that lines bones and allows joints to move easily. Why it happens is not fully understood but genetic predisposition and natural wear and tear are thought to  play a role. As the disease progresses, bony growths develop around the edge of the joints, causing pain and inflammation.

The trainers, known as AposTherapy, were
developed in Israel in 2004 and results of a pilot trial on 1,300
British patients were released last year. During the trial, 67 per cent
were able to reduce their need for painkillers, with 40 per cent no
longer needing any at all.

Physiotherapist Ed Butler explains: ‘The
trainers correct the way you walk, which takes pressure off the knee,
alleviating pain. You are engaging your core muscles and realigning the
body.’ As osteoarthritis progresses, the knee joint becomes more
unstable, and the muscles around it begin to be affected to compensate.

‘Sufferers often limp due to the hamstring muscles having tensed. As the condition takes hold, and before pain becomes too acute, the brain reacts and forces muscles to work in the wrong way,’ says Mr Butler.

Attached to the soles of the trainers – one at the front and one at the heel – are circular and convex Pertupods made of a rubber compound, which can be either soft or hard. ‘If someone feels a lot of pain when they put their feet down, we’d give them a softer one to lessen the impact,’ says Mr Butler.

‘For the more mobile, the harder ones make them more aware of how they are walking. The soles are like a wobble-board, forcing the wearer to balance and correct their posture.’

The Pertupods can be altered according to the patient’s therapeutic needs, determined by a physiotherapy assessment. The shoes are worn for everyday activities and no further exercises are needed.

‘People may wear them for a few hours a day initially,’ says Mr Butler. ‘As their gait is corrected, we encourage them to rely on them less.’

Three months after wearing the trainers he was nearly pain-free

One satisfied patient is Steve Hall,  49, a retired detective chief inspector who lives in Surrey with his wife Sarah, 44, a childminder, and their eight-year-old son Matthew.

‘I had a motorcycle accident at the age of 20 and broke my left tibia and fibula. In 2003 my knee started to swell up,’ he says.

Tests revealed he was suffering from osteoarthritis. ‘I was told I had the knee of a 70-year-old,’ he adds.

In 2004, Mr Hall underwent a tibial osteotomy, a surgical procedure that realigns the leg. ‘It improved things,’ he says. ‘But I was still in pain and I would have needed a knee replacement at some point.’

Three years ago he came across AposTherapy and was attracted to it because it was drug-free. Three months later, after wearing the trainers daily, he was almost pain-free.

‘I would put them on in the morning, go to work and wear them all day,’ he says. The result is that he now doesn’t need a knee replacement.

Independent clinical experts are optimistic about the treatment.

‘I have referred patients,’ says Dr Hasan Tahir, consultant physician in acute medicine and rheumatology at Whipps Cross University Hospital in London.

‘Addressing posture is an important part of the management of osteoarthritis.

‘But this is only part of the pro–cess. Losing weight is the first step and painkillers or steroid injections may still be needed.’

Three years later, Steve wears the trainers for a couple of hours a day for four or five days a week.

‘The best thing is that I can now referee my son’s football team,’ he says.

lFrom £2,100, apostherapy.co.uk. Treatment free for Bupa patients.

Share this article:

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2089947/The-wobble-board-trainers-beat-pain-knee-arthritis.html?ITO=1490

• Osteoarthritis usually develops in people aged 50 plus
• Abnormally short DNA sequences linked to painful joint disease

By
Sadie Whitelocks

Last updated at 1:33 PM on 16th January 2012

Scientists believe they are closer to pinpointing the exact cause of osteoarthritis, offering the hope of more effective treatment.

A team from the University of Southern Denmark found shortened ends of chromosomes, were linked to the onset of the degenerative disease.

Abnormally short chromosome caps, called telomeres, were seen in cells from damaged knee joints and those near the areas of severe damage were ‘ultra-short’.

Scientists believe they are closer to finding the exact cause of osteoarthritis

These latest findings show that that these lengths of DNA play an integral role in the development of the condition which leads to stiffness and pain in different joints – most commonly in the hands.

It is hoped that this will prompt more effective treatment for osteoarthritis (OA), the most common
form of arthritis, for which there is no cure.

Commenting on the findings lead researcher Dr Maria Harbo said: ‘We see both a reduced mean
telomere length and an increase in the number of cells with ultra-short
telomeres associated with increased severity of OA.’

Researchers studied telomere length in cells taken from the knees of three women with osteoarthritis.

They found that average telomere
length was shortened in the affected joints, and telomeres became
shorter near the areas of worst damage.

Biological ageing causes the gradual shortening of telomeres – DNA sequences which protect the ends of chromosomes – but a host of other factors can make them shorten
over time, including damage caused by oxygen
free radicals (oxidative stress).

Oxygen free radicals are the unstable molecules produced as a by-product of normal bodily processes, as well as external factors, such as tobacco, alcohol, and sunlight.

The shortening of telomeres is linked to reduced lifespan, heart disease and osteoarthritis and previous research has shown that preserving the length of these chromosomal ‘bookends’ can increase life expectancy.

People with very long life
spans have also been shown to possess longer telomeres.

On the other hand there is evidence that out-of-control telomere recovery may be linked to cancer.

The findings are published in the online journal Arthritis Research Therapy.

Each year more than 140,000 hip and knee replacement operations are performed on the NHS in England and Wales.

Osteoarthritis usually develops in people over 50 years of age and can be accelerated by previous injury or repetitive stress to joints.

There is no cure for the disease but there is a range of treatments to relieve discomfort.

Share this article:

Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2087258/DNA-breakthrough-gives-vital-clue-cause-osteoarthritis.html?ITO=1490

There are 20 potential new QOF indicators across nine areas currently being consulted on – RA is one of the areas being proposed. NICE is now consulting on whether to include RA and the five indicators they have chosen for the condition.

‘This is potentially great news for those living with RA in England,’ said Federico Moscogiuri, head of policy and campaigns at Arthritis Care. ‘Arthritis Care will be responding to the consultation to ensure we push for the most appropriate indicators to be included.’

Dr Fergus Macbeth, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, said: ‘This consultation on potential new indicators is an integral part of NICE’s process for QOF. The final menu of indicators, to be published on the NICE website in August, will support healthcare professionals to deliver good quality patient care, based on the best available evidence.’

Introduced in 2004, the QOF is a voluntary incentive scheme for GP practices in England, rewarding them for how well they care for patients. Arthritis Care continues to campaign for osteoarthritis to be included in the QOF.

Article source: http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/NewsRoom/Latestnewsstories/rheumatoid-arthritis-in-quality-outcome-framework-consultation

‘Neil has brought enormous strengths to Arthritis Care over 11 years, for the past seven as chief executive. He has succeeded in raising the needs of people with arthritis up the political agenda at national and local levels and has built strong relationships with leading health professionals.

‘He has also provided great personal and professional knowledge and expertise to Arthritis Care. Under his leadership, Arthritis Care has become a leading and respected voice of people with arthritis and he leaves a legacy of policy change and service delivery that we will continue to build on. We will be very sad to see him go.

‘The Board join with me in expressing our warmest thanks to Neil and in wishing him every success in the future.

‘The Board will shortly start the search for a new chief executive to lead the organisation at a time of new challenges facing so many of us in the voluntary sector.’

Commenting on his move, Neil Betteridge said:

‘Having grown up with arthritis as a child, being chief executive of Arthritis Care has been a dream come true for me. But I believe that now is the right time for me to be seeking new opportunities at a personal level. It also means Arthritis Care can appoint a successor who will have time to develop and deliver the next long term strategy, as we approach the final year of the current plan.

‘I will miss the many people who make Arthritis Care unique. Our members, volunteers and other supporters are passionate about their work for Arthritis Care and, supported by our dedicated staff around the UK, they make a huge difference to people’s lives on a daily basis.

‘I wish my successor well and if I can offer any support to him or her, I would be happy to do so.’

Arthritis Care contacts

Alba Lewis, director of fundraising and communications AlbaL@arthritiscare.org.uk
Clare Mills, executive assistant  ClareM@arthritiscare.org.uk Tel: 020 7380 6558

Article source: http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/NewsRoom/Latestnewsstories/arthritis-care-announces-departure-of-chief-executive

Susie Parsons said ‘Like all voluntary organisations, Arthritis Care is operating in a difficult funding climate and I am looking forward to working with the Trustees and staff to secure a sustainable future for the services and campaigns which are so tremendously important to people living with arthritis.’

Having spent all her working life in the public and voluntary sectors, including as chief executive of the Commission for Racial Equality, London Lighthouse and the National Campaign for Learning, Susie set up an interim management and consultancy business in 2005, specialising both in turning round organisations in difficulty and supporting successful ones to become even better.  She has served as Interim chief executive of the Refugee Arrivals Project, the Barrow Cadbury Trust and the Novas Scarman Group.

Article source: http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/NewsRoom/Statementsandpressreleases/UXpW

Federico Moscogiuri, head of policy
campaigns, said: ‘The appraisal consultation document published today
recommends making tocilizumab more easily available to people with rheumatoid
arthritis. This is the first time that a drug other than an anti-TNF has been
recommended for second-line treatment of this often debilitating disease. 

Although it must be stressed that this guidance
is only preliminary, it represents a is a very encouraging development in terms
of improving treatment options for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis
Care will be preparing a full response to the consultation in due course, and
will continue calling for greater choice in treatment options for people with
all forms of arthritis.’

Should the NICE
recommendations become final guidance following consultation,
tocilizumab will become available for people with rheumatoid arthritis
following the use of
disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), without having to
try rituximab first.

Anyone with questions about
arthritis can call Arthritis Care’s helplines free on 0808 800 4050 or
email Helplines@arthritiscare.org.uk 

Article source: http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/NewsRoom/Latestnewsstories/G5Pp

The consultation, launched on World Arthritis Day is aimed at patients, clinicians and commissioners and seeks to assess the progress that has been made in improving services for patients with rheumatoid arthritis since the publication of the 2009 National Audit Office report Services for people with rheumatoid arthritis which outlined a number of concerns about the provision and quality of services for patients.

The consultation asks participants for feedback on the state of services in their area, the information and support available to patients and whether patients are getting access to the treatment and care they need to manage their condition.

Upon launching the consultation Federico Moscogiuri, Head of Policy and Public Affairs for Arthritis Care said: “Over two years since the National Audit Office published its findings into the state of services for people with rheumatoid arthritis, Arthritis Care remains concerned at the current quality of these services in England, particularly against the current backdrop of NHS ‘efficiency savings’. That is why this World Arthritis Day we are launching this survey with clinicians, commissioners and people with rheumatoid arthritis across England, to determine how services have changed over the past two years and get an understanding of where further progress is needed to improve services for people with rheumatoid arthritis. This survey will feed into our newly-launched ArthritisWatch project, which will gather evidence of changes and cuts to services for all people with arthritis in England. For too long musculoskeletal conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis have not been a priority for the NHS: we hope this initiative can help to change that.”

You are not obliged to answer any of the questions, but the more information you are able to provide, the stronger our evidence will be. We will not contact you and your answers will remain anonymous.

Survey for people with rheumatoid arthritis

Survey for doctors and comissioners

Article source: http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/NewsRoom/Latestnewsstories/2011-quality-of-rheumatoid-arthritis-services-in-the-nhs-survey