Arthritis diary A second chance Thanks to medicine, many of us can still do the things Iwe love, says BBC broadcaster Julian Worricker ’ve written before about my shortcomings on the golf course and how further plans to humiliate myself were curtailed when arthritis got in the way. I can still remember how the essential requirements of the golf swing – the specific grip, the cock of the wrists, the sweeping follow through – became increasingly painful. I’ve also conceded that giving up the game wasn’t a cause of much heartache. Long before my psoriatic arthritis became a genuine impairment, I was still more than capable of some truly dire performances. The friends who witnessed it always enjoy reminding me of a sunbaked afternoon on the Algarve when I managed to take 19 shots on a hole where you were only supposed to take five. There was no pain to use as an excuse at the time, just my own incompetence. I revisit these sporting triumphs because I’ve been reading recently about Phil Mickelson, an American golfer. He first announced his diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis as long ago as 2010 and, at the time, people wondered if he’d be able to continue his career. He clearly wondered, too. What’s followed has been a story of continued sporting success – he has five golf Major tournaments to his name – and a course of treatment similar to mine. He self-injects an anti-TNF drug and, as a result, his game is unaffected. The wonder of medicine In reading about his story, I stumbled upon other examples of people who’d feared the end of a career, but who discovered that the medical advances made in recent times have helped them continue. There were other sports people mentioned, but also musicians. I’ve talked publicly about my love of playing the piano – something I do a good deal better than I play golf – and one professional pianist spoke about his fingers almost seizing up before his drugs began to ease the situation. There was a guitarist, too. I’ve never played the guitar, but the precision and pressure needed to press and pluck those strings would be unimaginable if one’s fingers were doing battle with any form of arthritis. Again, he’d had to stop playing, then was prescribed drugs that worked, and is now performing again. As you read this it’s summer, and we all want to be out and about doing whatever our bodies allow. I’ll walk, run and go to the gym when I can. And just occasionally, I’ll ponder how I might not have been able to make some of these choices, had my anti-TNF drugs not helped to the extent they have. n Julian Worricker has psoriatic arthritis. He is a TV and radio presenter and journalist, and currently presents the BBC News channel’s rolling news and the BBC World Service’s Weekend World Today iSTOCK.COM / SIMONBRADFIELD