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" Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is no longer as disabling for patients today as it was 20 years ago, a new study has concluded. Researchers at Utrecht University in The Netherlands recruited 1,151 people aged 17 to 86 who had been newly diagnosed with the condition between 1990 and 2011. They were assessed at the time and then followed up for three to five years afterwards. After the first four years of treatment 20 years ago, 23 per cent reported anxiety, 25 per cent were depressed and 53 per cent experienced physical disability. Today, those figures have fallen to 12, 14 and 31 per cent respectively. The researchers credited early therapy intervention, better medication and more intensive therapy for this dramatic reduction in disease activity. Lead author Cecile L Overman said in the journal Arthritis Care &amp;amp;amp; Research: &amp;#039;Today, RA patients have a better opportunity of living a valued life than patients diagnosed with this autoimmune disease two decades ago.&amp;#039; RA is the second most common form of arthritis in the UK and affects an estimated 690,000 adults. Read the abstract "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a24667/rheumatoid-arthritis-less-disabling-today/>