Sopranos Star Aida Turturro Scores Big Hit In The Battle Against Rheumatoid Arthritis

She's a featured actress on one of the hottest shows on television - the HBO smash-hit, "The Sopranos," which chronicles the daily adventures of a lovable (and sometimes hateable) family of New Jersey-based mobsters.

She's also a veteran movie performer whose long list of screen-credits includes box-office blockbusters such as "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" and "Deep Blue Sea."

The Energetic Turturro Struggles Daily with RA

Brassy and pugnacious, Aida Turturro plays Tony Soprano's feisty sister, Janice, and her relentless energy never seems to flag. Watching her strut her stuff on the set, it's hard to believe that this 38-year-old acting phenomenon suffers from a lifelong illness - rheumatoid arthritis, or "RA" - that often leaves her exhausted and struggling with the chronic pain caused by inflamed and swollen joints.

Along with 1.6 million other American women (and half a million men), this award-winning actress must grapple daily with an "autoimmune disorder", in which the body's immune system instead attacks vulnerable joint tissues, causing pain, inflammation and sometimes, a crippling loss of mobility and function.

So what's it like to be a world-class TV and movie star who must also manage a chronic ailment day in and day out?

"Actually, I feel pretty lucky, because my illness has never been disabling," says Turturro. "In my case, the attacks come and go, and most are fairly mild. I do get a lot of pain in my feet at times, and also in my knees and shoulders, but it's never stopped me from working.

"Okay, Aida, you gotta move!"

"Still, these attacks are no fun. I've had some days where I woke up and climbed out of bed - and right away, I'm thinking: 'Oh, my God . . . I've got bad feet, and I've gotta do an episode of The Sopranos today!'

"When that happens, I just do the best I can. I take my medications, eat right, and try to get some healthy exercise. And then I go to work. Sometimes I have to grit my teeth a little, but I tell myself: 'Okay, Aida, you gotta move - do it!'"

Here's how Aida Turturro "bada-bings" RA

Aida's "coping strategy" for living well with RA includes the following steps:

1. Find a good rheumatologist and learn all you can about how your particular type of RA affects your body and your health
2. With the doctor's guidance, work out a schedule of medications that will help you most.
3. Put together an exercise program (swimming is especially helpful) that will help keep your joints as flexible and as strong as possible.
4. With the help of the doctor and perhaps a nutritionist, assemble a healthy diet aimed at combating the symptoms of RA. In most cases, says Aida, that means eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, while avoiding sugar as much as possible.
   

Explains Aida: "I'm convinced that the key to managing RA successfully is to understand your disease - and then to work out an effective program of medications, exercise and diet with your doctor. When it comes to living with a chronic illness, awareness is our greatest weapon!"

Her Strategy: "Knowledge Is Power!"

Although she frequently finds herself working on a TV or movie set while struggling with swollen and aching joints, Aida Turturro has never allowed her illness to interfere with her acting career - which took off in earnest during a 1992 Broadway revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire."

During that widely praised production, Aida played opposite actor James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano of The Sopranos), who later tapped her to play the role of his sister, Janice.

After starring in several high-profile TV series ("The Practice"; "Law and Order"; "Sesame Street"), Aida has also enjoyed increasing movie success in recent years. Among her recent Hollywood credits are "Bringing Out The Dead," with Nicholas Cage, and "Illuminata," a new film directed by her highly regarded actor-cousin, John Turturro.

How did she manage to win all these acting kudos, while also dealing with an illness that often leaves people sitting in the rocker?

"Well, I think I was very fortunate," she says. "I got lots of support from family and friends, and I found a great doctor. I also made a personal decision about my illness: I decided to confront it head-on!

Knowledge is Power!

"Since I did that, I feel there's nothing I can't accomplish. Sure, I have days when the pain is bad . . . but I don't let my disease affect my spirit or stop my career in any way. I'm also greatly encouraged by the recent advances medicine has been making in researching this disease - and I think that's an enormously hopeful prospect for all of us!"

Intent on helping educate the nation's two million RA-sufferers about the symptoms and treatment of RA, Aida recently signed on as national spokesperson for a new outreach campaign by the non-profit Arthritis Foundation. Known as the "Joint Effort Against Rheumatoid Arthritis," the campaign is aimed at educating Americans everywhere about RA.

"When it comes to chronic illness," says Aida, "knowledge is power!"