High rate of rheumatoid arthritis among American Indians prompts research partnership

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

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BY JACLYN COSGROVE jcosgrove@opubco.com

Oklahoma researchers and tribal clinic doctors are together to combat a disease that affects a high rate of American Indians.

Researchers at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation have formed a partnership with doctors at Chickasaw Nation and Cherokee Nation clinics to provide care for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

At the same time, the medical foundation enrolls patients at the clinic in research that helps them better understand, for example, why four times as many American Indians are affected by rheumatoid arthritis than those of European ancestry.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a form of arthritis that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in a person’s joints, according to the National Institutes of Health.Read more on NewsOK.comread more

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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation)

Founder & Editor in Chief

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Location: Twin Buttes, North Dakota

Spoken Languages: English

Topic Expertise: Federal trust relationship with American Indians; Indigenous issues ranging from spirituality and environment to education and land rights

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