Riding On Report Spring 2025

TedE and I have been really looking forward to Spring this year. Perth has seen a fairly wet winter that has resulted in our Joondalup Branch having to cancel three Sunday rides, which is a very rare occurrence. I hope most other Branches have been lucky enough to have our share of fair weather over winter to enjoy lots of riding.

Most of us know about the research that is being carried on around the world to find a cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis. I recently read an interesting article on the ‘National Library of Medicine’ website and thought I would condense it and share.

A very short history of Rheumatoid Arthritis

There are varied opinions on when Rheumatoid Arthritis originated. There is disagreement that it may have been around for hundreds or more years or it is a condition brought about by development of modern life style and diets. The former theorists suggest that Hippocrates may have described patients with symptoms that together with studies of ancient texts, Renaissance artwork and exhumed skeletons give an historical perspective of Rheumatoid Arthritis over various eras but no definitive answer has been given.

The French physician Augustin Jacob Landre-Beauvais in 1800 wrote about severe joint pain where symptoms differed from other maladies like osteoarthritis and gout, naming it ‘Primary Asthenic Gout’. The classification as a form of gout was inaccurate, but his research spurred further studies in the disease.

During the 19th century, the English physician Alfred Garrod wrote in 1859 his treatise, differentiating arthritis from gout, and categorised it as a distinct condition of ‘Rheumatic Gout’ and laid the groundwork for the causes of the disease.

It was one of Alfred’s sons, Archibald Garrod, who continued the research into the condition, writing in 1890 an extensive ‘Treatise on Rheumatism and Rheumatoid Arthritis’, coining the term Rheumatoid Arthritis as it more accurately described the disease. Archibald was a proponent of the Ancient Origin theory but 20th century physicians such as Charles Short, debunked such claims and is most credited for the Recent Origin theories.

Past historical treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis were cold water therapy, hot water baths, counter irritants (heat creams), bloodletting and willow bark (similar to modern day aspirin).

Drug treatment began to be used from 1948 with Glucocorticoids (steroid hormones), Antimalarial drugs in 1957, DMARDs (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) in 1988, Biologic agents (also DMARDs) in 1998 and Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors being used from 2012.

Of course, research is never ending in the search for understanding and a cure for sufferers of Rheumatoid Arthritis, of which we can be very proud of the part the members of our Ulysses Club play.

Ride for Rheumatoid 2 – The Sequel

At the time of writing this report, work is underway for the planning of a biannual Ride for Rheumatoid that will take place for the 2027 National Rally at Bathurst. Robert Hunt has got a team together and most likely details have now filtered through about the ride. With the experienced gained with the inaugural Ride to Armidale, we can look forward to an even bigger ‘BLOCK BUSTER’

UCARF Raffle for ‘26

Again, information is still in the pipeline, but I am now sure you are purchasing your tickets in what will be an exciting prize.

Donations

Branch donations for June, July and August came to $5772 (rounded off) with thanks going to Albury Wodonga ($300), Nepean ($242), Sydney ($2000), Fraser Coast ($1500), Hobart ($194), Wagga Wagga ($75) and the SE Qld Cartwheel Ride ($729).

Individual donation from Michael Abberfield ($140), HBA Learning ($364) and unknown from Qld ($83).

Cash for Cans over the past three 3 months was a total of $155. Let’s keep it up.

Don’t forget, we have three UCARF Ambassadors – Cheryl and Patick Mahedy for NSW, Janet Mulgrue in the ACT and Ros Rees in Queensland. Please let me know if you are interested in becoming involved and joining the team.

Cheers all and enjoy reading this Spring edition of Riding On.

Ken and TedE
UCARF Coordinator,
#51189 DM #67