Painful joints were a problem for magnificent movie star Coburn

THE Magnificent Seven might have returned with a fancy new cast but in my opinion you can’t beat the original line-up.

There was Yul Brynner’s steely gaze and Steve McQueen’s effortless cool, while James Coburn threatened to steal the entire film.

I read recently that Coburn developed rheumatoid arthritis many years after filming the Western classic.

The inflammatory condition had nothing to do with his movie work. In fact, we’re not sure why people develop it.

The body’s immune system begins to attack the tissue surrounding the joints and, left unchecked, it can cause all sorts of problems.

Typically, rheumatoid arthritis is signalled by pain and stiffness in several joints.

It most often develops in fingers, thumbs, wrists, feet and ankles. Less commonly, the knee is affected.

It tends to involve the same joints on both sides of the body.

There are symptoms away from the joints, including painless nodules in the elbow and forearm, sore tendons, anaemia and fatigue.

These days we treat rheumatoid arthritis quite aggressively as early as we can – which is why it is good to get inflamed joints checked out quickly.

Disease-modifying medicines, as they are known, are prescribed to reduce joint inflammation and try to prevent the disease from damaging the joints.

They can produce side-effects and their use must be carefully monitored – but the treatment is worth it in the long run.

If these don’t work, biological medicines may be tried.

These block inflammatory chemicals by mimicking substances our bodies make, such as antibodies – very nifty.