This film is from the John Murray collection and was made by the Audio Visual Service at Leeds University for medical students and general practitioners. It was made in order to give them a greater awareness of how rheumatoid arthritis affects real people’s lives. It follows four mothers with young children who suffer with arthritis, and shows what a struggle it is for them. The film opens with a shot of the brand name DISTA and then cuts to a pregnant woman sitting against a tree in a garden...

This film is from the John Murray collection and was made by the Audio Visual Service at Leeds University for medical students and general practitioners. It was made in order to give them a greater awareness of how rheumatoid arthritis affects real people’s lives. It follows four mothers with young children who suffer with arthritis, and shows what a struggle it is for them. The film opens with a shot of the brand name DISTA and then cuts to a pregnant woman sitting against a tree in a garden and reading a book about babies. The voiceover says that when you are having a baby it is a happy time unless you have arthritis, and then it can shatter your world. Title-Arthritis the Intruder Title-…a study of mothers with young children. Another pregnant woman talks to the camera about the difficulties that she expects once the baby is born, especially when it gets a bit older and is moving about. She says that she won’t be able to chase after it like other mothers. There are shots of the woman’s hands which are beginning to bend with arthritis. The scene changes to an office where a Consultant Physician talks to the camera about the trouble with rheumatoid arthritis. She does a continuous voiceover, talking about the women, their children, and their arthritis problems, There is an interview with a young mother who has had arthritis since she was twenty. There are shots of her at home with her son as she describes the problems that she has managing him. She says lifting and carrying her baby is hard because it hurts her hands, so she has come up with a different way of holding him. She also tries to hide anything that he can hurt himself with, so that she doesn’t have to rush over to him. There are shots of her picking him up, changing his nappy and getting on the bus with him. Another woman who has had arthritis since she was 11 is trying to put socks and shoes onto her son; she has a lot of difficulty as her hands are quite bent. She explains the trouble that she has with changing nappies, getting her son to do what she asks and staying in bed, because he knows she can’t make him do anything. Another woman has two children and has trouble with her hands and feet but is happier now that she can get out and about with her car. In the following section is an interview with a woman who lives on a council estate with five children, four of them are mentally handicapped and she also has to cope with crippling arthritis. There is a long sequence showing her trying to deal with all of them as well as cooking dinner. The Consultant Physician talks to the camera again and says that there are some simple things that women can do to try to cope with their symptoms. The scene cuts back to the first woman’s house where she has two friends over for coffee. She says that it helps to have people calling over to help her and keep her company. The woman with the car says that because of her mobility allowance, she can keep her car going, build a downstairs toilet in her house and alter the height of surfaces. The Consultant Physician holds up three leaflets with information about rheumatoid arthritis issues and says that these can be got from the Rheumatoid Arthritis Council. Title-Produced by the Film Unit of the Audio Visual Services, University of Leeds, with the co-operation of Dista. Title-A leaflet covering sources of help for patients with arthritis is available with this film or from Dista.