A REAL name

So in the papers today there is news that there is a new, non drug, painrelieving gel that is going to revolutionise Ostoearthritis treatment.

This is great news especially as a lot of people are sensitive to the current anti-inflammatory drugs and so experience side efects.

My complaint is that it will mean another raft of well meaning people telling me problems will soon all be solved.

I DON'T have Ostoearthritis, I have an autoimmune condition that happens to contain the world Arthritis simply because the joints are afected as well as the rest of the body.

Why can't our condition have a real name like other conditions do?  Like Lupus, Crohn's, Grave's Disease or Addison's Disease.

Whenever people ask me what my condition is they invariably say "Oooh, I have that too, in my thumb/knee etc because all they hear is the word Arthritis which they obviously do have but of the Osteo variety.  I can not then say mine is different without seeming to be trying to outdo them so I tend to hide it and not mention it. 

Most people have heard of Rheumatiod/Inflammatory Arthritis but think it is just a variation on the more common Osteoarthritis which is decaying of the joints and which will affect most people eventually if they live long enough.  The name Rheumatoid Arthritis does not in any way describe the fact that this is an illness that affects everything the sufferer does.  Our bodies have permanent inflammation which can be reduced by strong drugs, we have a constant slightly high temperature which prevents sleep sometimes, we are in constant pain, the joints become "wobbly" and so each movement takes approximately three times as much energy so everyday tasks are so much more tiring and because a lot of the treatments supress the immune system we catch every cold, virus or bug that is going around.

So pleeeease can we have a REAL name that reflects that this is NOT just a joint problem?