Claire King doesn’t look like your typical arthritis sufferer but the former Emmerdale star faces a daily battle to cope with the painful condition.

And as she gets older she admits she’s becoming more worried about the future and the possibility she may face major surgery one day.

But she’s determined it won’t stop her living life to the full at the moment.

“I worry about my health deteriorating. It scares me,” Claire says.

“It feels like my whole body is falling apart. I have elderly parents and they’ve got problems too, so I want to be around to help them.

“I don’t want to be a helpless old woman who can’t do anything for anyone because all my joints are falling apart.

Mrs. K. D. is a 43 year old wife and mother of two children and suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis. This is her story...

I have rheumatoid arthritis and would like to share with you the details of what a typical day is like for me from start to finish. This entry is not about my disease itself or its treatment, but about the way it affects what I do throughout my day. I hope that by describing the details of what my day is like, people will be more enlightened as to some of the experiences persons with rheumatoid arthritis must endure regularly. I also hope that sharing these experiences will make it easier for acquaintances, friends, and family members to interact with those who suffer from this disease.

Imagine what would happen if all on the same site recorded his experiences on what foods worsen their disease, medications that cause unpleasant side effects, which are the biggest problems during recovery from surgery ....

Can we leverage the power of virualnih social networks to combat the disease?

My name is Zdravko Mauko. I have osteoarthritis. I started our-arthritis.com getting to know other people who suffer from arthritis and share their experiences with them. I believe that through networking and cooperation can significantly contribute to recovery or at least reduce the problems associated with certain chronic diseases. His experience with arthritis I regularly described in these pages, and I believe that other people benefit from it. Maybe someone help my experiences in testing various alternative therapies, may be involved other people who will support me, send links to information about new therapies or news about the companies that develop new drugs.