My father is in pain after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, help! Dr Zoe Williams answers your health questions

DR Zoe Williams helps a reader whose father suffers from arthritis.

Dr Zoe is our resident doctor and is here to help you.

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Q: MY 65-year-old father was diagnosed with chronic/rheumatoid arthritis.

It happened very quickly – within a month he couldn’t walk.

He has lost weight and is in a lot of pain, so he is not working or sleeping.

He started methotrexate, but everything I read says it is to “slow progression”.

That is true? Or is it just a flare-up and he’ll go back to normal?

A: I’m sorry to hear that your father was diagnosed with this condition and is suffering so much.

People tend to think that rheumatoid arthritis is just severe arthritis, but it is not.

It is a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the person’s joints and causes inflammation and damage.

It can also cause damage to other organs, including the kidneys and lungs.

There are more than 100 types of arthritis that require different treatment methods.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term disease, but the symptoms are not always the same.

There may be periods when symptoms worsen, known as flare-ups, and it sounds like your father had his first flare-up.

If so, a rheumatologist hopes to resolve the issue.

A flare-up can be difficult to predict, but with treatment it is possible to minimize or prevent long-term joint damage.

Repeated attacks progressively cause long-term joint damage – hence the tendency for “slow progression”.

Speak to your father’s team of experts to see if he will improve from where he is now.

If you don’t know how to contact them, your GP surgery can support you with this.