After playing tennis in high school, wearing three- to four-inch heels regularly, and running a marathon at the age of 41—followed by two knee surgeries—Snow realized the value of weight loss and movement to prevent OA symptoms. She lost 34 pounds after her two surgeries and became active again. “I have four grandchildren, and one on the way. I want to get on the floor and play with them,” she says.
Because she commonly uses the AF’s resources in her volunteer work, she hopes the campaign will spark a greater interest from physicians and the public in the variety of helpful information available through the AF. “You don’t have to live with the pain,” she says. “You have to educate yourself and follow your regimen.”
The Campaign in Your Practice
Although the campaign does not prompt those who think they have OA to see a rheumatologist—doing so would overwhelm the health care system, Dr. Klippel says—those involved with the campaign do think the campaign helps with patient education. “The campaign will focus on osteoarthritis, but I‘m hopeful with the Web links to the AF and ACR, it will allow patients to enhance their knowledge about all forms of arthritis, not only OA,” Dr. Cohen says.
ACR board member Christy Sandborg, MD, professor of pediatrics and chief of pediatric rheumatology at Lucile Packard Childrens’ Hospital at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, Calif., also sees a strong value in the campaign. “The campaign has good information for my friends, my family, and me,” Dr. Sandborg says, adding that she is reaching an age during which OA is more common. As a pediatric rheumatologist, she says the campaign also provides information to help her patients prevent OA in the future.
Vanessa Caceres is a medical writer and editor in Florida.