High rate of rheumatoid arthritis among American Indians prompts research partnership

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