'Painting takes me to a place where there is no pain' Greg Tindle meets Jan Williams who is celebrating picking up a first class fine art degree after a new drug helped her overcome the pain of psoriatic arthritis.

Byline: Greg Tindle

JAN Williams' body was constantly wracked with pain and fatigue as she battled with a form of arthritis that affected her every waking - and sleeping - hour.

It got so bad Jan couldn't even pick up a cup or a pen as her hands swelled up like sausages with the joints of her fingers crippled with the disease.

But in an astonishing transformation, brought about by a new drug, life for the mother-of-five has changed completely and those once useless and deformed fingers have won her a top painting prize and a first class honours degree in fine art.

Her new lease of life is even more remarkable in that Jan had previously no interest in art and last picked up a paintbrush in junior school more than 40 years ago.

It was only when her doctor suggested taking up painting as something to do that Jan realised she had a hidden talent that flowed out of her once she was in front of an easel.

She said: "Art takes me to a place where there is no pain, I get totally lost when painting. It's like a different world."

The new bright outlook is a far cry from the days when Jan's daily life was a form of torture as she struggled to cope with the condition psoriatic arthritis which she says affected everything from her teeth to her toes.

It was when she was in her early 20s that she first noticed what was to be the onset of the disease.

"I had pain and inflammation in my fingers and toes which gradually got worse," she said.

"It got to the point when I couldn't put my foot down without it hurting. I initially put it down to wearing high heels but it just wouldn't go away."

Jan was eventually diagnosed with arthritis and that started a succession of drug treatments but nothing seemed to work and her job as an assistant catering manager at the old Bridgend General Hospital became more and more arduous.

Strangely the only relief from constant pain came when Jan was pregnant. "I don't know why, maybe it was the hormones, but the pain seemed to go away and I felt well and the disease seemed to be stable."

Today Jan, 53, from Adventurers Quay in Cardiff Bay has son Richard, 26, and four daughters, Catherine, 25, Rachel, 23, Charlotte, 22, and Rebecca, 17, but says her large family had nothing to do with the periods of pain relief it gave her.

She said: "But between pregnancies the pain returned getting to the stage that I couldn't walk far and was forced into a wheelchair to get out and about.

"All the children got used to helping and had to adapt to me not being able to do simple things such as opening a door."

In a desperate bid to treat her finger and toe joints, surgery was carried out to loosen the tendons with metal pins put into the joints.

But her life was eventually transformed six years ago when she was put on a new drug called infliximab, part of a new class of drugs called anti-TNF therapy. The drugs were pioneered and developed by medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign, whose Cardiff branch Jan has been a member of for several years.

Although not a cure, they control symptoms in many patients to such an extent that they can return to a near-normal life.

"The first time I was given the drug at the University Hospital of Wales I could feel an almost instant relief, so much so that the pain started to go as I was walking out of the hospital."

Jan now has regular top-ups of the drug in hospital every two months and the treatment enabled her to take up a degree course in fine art at Cardiff School of Art and Design.

Jan was encouraged to take up painting by Dr Sharon Jones, her consultant at UHW.

Jan said: "I wanted something to do and Sharon suggested painting as a means of boosting my self esteem and independence which had been low after years of illness."

Now Jan's hard work and artistic flair have been rewarded as one of her paintings has been selected from all final year painting students for a pounds 500 prize by the National Museum Wales.

Jan has been presented with the Helen Gregory Memorial Trust Purchase Award at the art school where her painting will hang for all to see.

"I'm absolutely amazed and thrilled that one of my painting has won this award, it's just fantastic," says Jan who has also just received the news of her first class honours degree.

"I was inspired to do fine art through the stories of the great masters such as Renoir, Klee and Dufy, all of whom produced great and enduring works of art despite suffering crippling illnesses like mine," explained Jan.

She now plans to take a masters in fine art, and as a result of winning the prize she has been asked to produce paintings to hang in the rheumatology department at the University of Wales Hospital where she is a patient and has the highest praise for the nurses in the department who have helped her over the years.

"They have seen me all the way through from the very bad days until today. I cannot thank them enough," she says.

"Going to art school and winning this prize has been a wonderful experience, but if I hadn't had arthritis I would never have done it. Of course I was old enough to be a mum to the other students but they treated me like one of their own. They were a good bunch and I plan to keep in touch with them."

Fred Johnson, area appeals manager for the Arthritis Research Campaign in South Wales, said: "Jan's achievement is an inspiring one which will help other people with severe arthritis to realise that the outlook for them is more positive than ever before. We are very proud of anti-TNF therapy as it has truly revolutionised treatment for millions of people with inflammatory arthritis not just in the UK but around the world."

The Arthritis Research Campaign funds several millions of pounds of research in Cardiff, and recently awarded pounds 2.5m over five years to support its new biomechanics and bioengineering centre at Cardiff University.

WHAT IS PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS? Arthritis means inflammation of the joints. In psoriatic arthritis, the inflammation is associated with the skin condition psoriasis. This causes red, scaly patches on the skin and leads to pitted, broken nails. Psoriatic arthritis usually only develops if you have psoriasis.

It can occur at any age and is different from the more common osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Symptoms also include: joint pain and stiffness, redness and swelling around your affected joints The cause is not fully understood, it is thought to be an auto immune disorder where the cells that attack infections turn on the body. In psoriatic arthritis, these cells attack the joints, leading to inflammation. Treatments include heat or warm water soaks to ease stiffness and ice to reduce swelling, gentle exercise such as swimming. A balanced diet and losing excess weight, to reduce the strain on your joints are recommended.

Medicines include painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. In more severe cases other drugs are prescribed to slow down the progression of the disease and ease the symptoms. Recently, three new medicines have been approved for treating severe cases of psoriatic arthritis. These include etanercept, infliximab or adalimumab.

For more information contact the Arthritis Research Campaign on 0870 850 5000 or website www.arc.org.uk

CAPTION(S):

Psoriatic arthritis left the joints in Jan's fingers crippled