A Norwich teenager says a pioneering drug treatment for rheumatoid arthritis has changed her life.

Rebecca Postle, 18, has had the chronic disease since she was four - but has seen a dramatic improvement since starting her therapy.

She is one of 120 people being treated with the drug at the Norfolk and Norwich Unviersity Hospital (NNUH), which uses the therapy more than any other UK hospital.

Ms Postle said: "I've had a lot more energy, I've sparked up a bit and I could do anything that you could take for granted, like walking to the shops."

Professor Scott: Drug improves condition

When she was 15, Ms Postle was on strong steroids and faced two hip replacements.

But the next year she became the first young patient in the UK to be put on the new therapy, which became available in the UK in June 2000.

It works by switching off the chemical TNF, or tumour necrosis factor, that causes the inflammation which leads to joint damage and destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.

Professor David Scott from the NNUH said: "I think the thing the patients notice most is it improves their tiredness, which none of the other drugs did.

"They feel better, and all the symptoms of arthritis are significantly improved."

The NNUH currently treats 120 patients with the drug, which is administered via a drip every eight weeks.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects about 420,000 people in England and Wales.

Up to 15,000 people suffer from the most severe form, which causes extreme joint pain, stiffness and inflammation.