The 10 Best Cities for Rheumatoid Arthritis Health

Choosing where to live can affect a lot more than just weather preferences throughout the year; it can also have a huge impact on health. On a basic level, access to grocery stores, parks, good school systems, effective transportation, and limited pollution can help people prevent adverse health outcomes. The safety of a neighborhood and access to appropriate healthcare can also play a huge role in overall health.

RA can be an extremely debilitating disease, so utilizing any resource available to improve quality of life, even if it means moving, should not be ignored.

The importance of comfort

People with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) should carefully consider where they are going to live. Having good quality of life and being comfortable can help prevent RA flare-ups. Most people with RA just want to see some level of symptom improvement and be able to maintain a high quality of life. Achieving these goals means getting the right amount of exercise while also following-up regularly with a rheumatologist. To do this, you have to have access to good rheumatologists and areas where you can engage in a variety of types of exercise. This is why when choosing a living location, people with RA should look for neighborhoods with parks, access to a pool, and perhaps gyms where different types of fitness classes such as yoga are offered. Doing research on locations where the best rheumatologists are located can also help people pick a living location.

A recent article published what they found to be the best cities for someone with RA to live. They based their decisions by looking at the Kaiser Foundation’s List of Regions with the Least Expensive Insurance Markets, as well as locations that are close in proximity to respected rheumatology institutions and a variety of parks and recreational areas. Kaiser’s list compared the lowest silver premiums for people in their 40s, to make sure that the area would be relatively affordable. Given that most people with RA are between 40 and 60, this was a good place to start. These authors also have a separate list of best places to live depending on climate.

Patients with RA are often trialed on different types of medications so being in close proximity to specialists is important. Medications such as corticosteroids and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are often used in combination and require careful regulation and adjustments. Depending on the progression of your symptoms, you may need to change medications or try a different therapy. Additionally, sometimes people with RA require surgery to repair severely damaged joints. Having easy access to medical professionals who can help you manage your RA can improve your quality of life. Since RA is a focus of many research projects, living near an area that has specialists who are the most up to date can ensure that you are getting the latest treatments. Having access to parks and decent grocery stores can help people with RA maintain a healthy lifestyle. People who are overweight are more prone to an increase in RA symptoms especially in the joints of their legs. Maintaining proper nutrition for immune support is also important, since as we know, RA is an autoimmune disease.

Finding the best hospitals

To decide which areas had the best access to rheumatology institutions, the authors examined the US News Best Hospitals Ranking, and specifically looked at the rheumatology ranks. With Campbell Soup Company’s 10 Most Organic Cities in America, they narrowed their search to include places with easy access to healthy food. Finally, by looking at Park Score’s city rating, they were able to analyze which cities had access to locations where people could exercise. Their method for scoring each location involved the sum from the first figure from the city’s park score while adding extra points for good rheumatology institutions, low-cost insurance premiums and the organic rating from the Campbell Soup Company’s list.

Read on for the 10 best cities for people with RA.