Rheumatoid Arthritis Live-in Care

Rheumatoid Arthritis belongs to the category of autoimmune diseases. It is a very common disease that is prevalent within the community. Autoimmune diseases are unique in the sense that they occur without any known or probable cause. Unlike other diseases that have one, or more symptoms, or features that lead to their occurrence, these unique sets of diseases have none of such pointers that signal their onset. It is because of this quality of their unknown origin that they have no particular treatment. Their signs and presenting complaints are treated by the doctor, while the disease stays at its place, arising whenever it is incited, thus becoming a source of pain and tension for the patient suffering from it.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful and inflammatory condition that mainly affects a person’s bones and joints. It is a chronic condition, which means that it takes its time to develop and then manifest in the patient. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of autoimmune arthritis, which in the long term, causes swelling of the lining of the joints which may ultimately lead to bone erosion.

It severely disables the patient’s activity and restricts them from moving freely.

As it is obvious that it is a disease of autoimmune origin, therefore, not a single cause has been excluded to be held as the main cause behind this disease. However, it is said to occur due to a mix of genetic and environmental factors, both of which individually contribute to the progression of this disease.

The features of rheumatoid arthritis are widespread over the entire body. What one patient experiences, is not necessarily the same as what the other patient would experience. However, some of the common signs and symptoms associated with this disease are as follows:

• A feeling of warmth, tenderness, and swelling in the affected joints
• General weakness, anxiety.
• Stiffened joints mainly in the morning that gets better as one moves around

According to a survey, the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis is between 1%-2% in the entire population of the UK.

People living with a condition of rheumatoid arthritis might not always have pleasant experiences in their daily lives. In old-aged people especially, this condition can prove to be quite a painful and debilitating one.

People might become restricted to perform even the smallest of all movements, and they consequently might require help from others constantly. In such a scenario, a live-in carer comes to the rescue.

A live-in carer will take care of all the needs that the person has, and that too, within the safe confines of the patient’s home so that he feels comfortable and can live freely in his familiar surroundings.

• A live-in carer will take care of the daily household chores and activities of a patient that require the most strenuous activities like washing, folding clothes, making food, etc.
• The carer would take care that the person moves his/her joints daily through simple exercises, as leaving them immobile and without any activity can cause other problems in the future.
• A carer would be there to make sure that the person intakes a healthy and balanced diet that contains all the nutrients and minerals necessary for his condition. The carer would also make sure that the patient takes their specified supplements on time.
• A carer would be there to talk and discuss the patient’s condition and feeling with the patient himself. He would encourage the patient to share and talk about whatever makes him feel bad about his present condition so that s/he does not become depressed.