Claire King health: ‘It scares me’ Emmerdale star’s 30-year long health battle

Claire King, 57, has been on television screens for decades. She joined the cast of Emmerdale way back in 1988 and has appeared in the gripping show Bad Girls playing a wing governor, Babes in the Wood, Doctors and Dalziel and Pascoe. She has entertained Britons for over thirty years, but during this time she has also suffered a debilitating health condition.

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The actress has suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) which is a long-term condition that causes pain in the joints, as well as stiffening and swelling.

Speaking to Mail Online, Claire said: “I was shocked and devastated when I was diagnosed with arthritis at 30.

You presume it’s an older person’s disease. I worry about my heath deteriorating. It scares me.

Nowadays, I have had to give up bombing round on a race horse at 40 miles an hour but I still go for a hack.

“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.

“That’s what motivates me to look after my health.”

What is rheumatoid arthritis?

Arthritis Foundation said on it’s website: “Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system – which normally protects its health by attacking foreign substances like bacteria and viruses – mistakenly attacks the joints.

“This creates inflammation that causes the tissue that lines the inside of joints to thicken, resulting in swelling and pain in and around the joints.

“If inflammation goes unchecked, it can damage cartilage, the elastic tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint, as well as the bones themselves.”

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What are the early symptoms of the condition?

In the early stages, people with RA may not initially see redness or swelling in the joints, however, they may experience tenderness and pain.

Arthritis Foundation added: “The following symptoms are clues to RA such as joint pain, tenderness, swelling or stiffness for six weeks or longer, morning stiffness for 30 minutes or longer, more than one joint is affected, small joints including wrists, certain joints of the hands and feet are affected and the same joints on both sides of the body are affected.”

While it’s been a painful battle for Claire, she doesn’t let it hold her back.

She said: “You’ve just got to get on with it. My doctor suggested I try some natural products: Hellenia’s MSM tablets, Celadrin tablets and joint relief cream.

“They were fantastic – particularly the cream, which relieves the pain in about half an hour. It was great, because I could use them when I was really struggling and everything became much more manageable.”

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