IT is commonly thought that people can only get arthritis in their hips, knees and other joints.
In fact, of the 200 forms of arthritis and rheumatic disease, one type called temporal arteritis affects the blood vessels in the head.
It's no joke for those who develop it.
Temporal arteritis is one of a group of rheumatic diseases collectively known as vasculitis. Affecting about 3,000 people in the UK, vasculitis causes inflammation in the blood vessels throughout the body, blocking or reducing the flow of the supply, causing inflammation.
Now leading medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign has produced a new booklet on vasculitis, covering all the various forms of the condition and looking at diagnosis, prognosis, and treatments, which include steroids.
Copies of the booklet are available free from me. Please enclose a 9x6 SAE.
LISA HUTCHINSON, ARC, PO Box 177, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S41 7TD.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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