One of my other ailments

No today's post is not about my cancers. It is about one of my other ailments - rheumatoid arthritis. This is the ailment that makes my hands and feet hurt and getting out of bed in the morning a bit difficult. As opposed to rheumatoid which makes my whole back hurt or my degenerating disks which resemble an ice pick in my spine when its cranky or my left hip bursitis which also can remember an ice pick. (And I am on all the good drugs.)

The problem with RA is that your body's immune system turns on itself and starts attacking your joints. Currently it can be slowed and controlled by a wide variety of medications available. But it cannot be stopped and will continue to cripple your joints endlessly.

However now there is new research (because we always need more research to keep those researchers busy) which shows a way to possibly halt RA progression. Here is a less technical version and here is a very technical version. Basically there is a TLR gene which has a TLR5 receptor which hangs out with myeloid cells and that is proof that it is a technical topic.

I am just happy to hear there is something which might be able to stop the progression of RA. It is much worse than osteoarthritis which is what most people get from overuse. RA just happens - if you are lucky enough (which apparently I am).

So a perky little glimmer of hope on the RA horizon. Now I hope they can do something with my other ailments too. Go researchers!