In the 19th century, a French doctor recognised a subset of patients with joint disease that didn’t fit the traditional diagnoses of gout or osteoarthritis. These patients were predominately female with affected hands and fingers, joint stiffness, and often had a low socioeconomic background (gout was traditionally associated with high socioeconomic status).

Later, an English Physician noted an important distinction that these patients did not have elevated uric acid such as those with gout. This must be a different disease; he was right. It would be his son who took on this family interest and ultimately gave this disease the name we know it as today: Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Our special guest for this episode is Dr Daman Langguth, an immunologist, Head of the Immunology Department at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology and a member of the Australian Rheumatology Association.

This is the story of Rheumatoid Arthritis.