What can we as rheumatologists do about it? We can check blood pressure and consider adding a lipid panel and a hemoglobin A1c to routine blood work once a year. If values are abnormal, we can notify relevant providers so they may be addressed. We can encourage smoking cessation and promote maintenance of a healthy weight. We can support active lifestyles and dispel the common myth that exercise will accelerate joint damage and disease. And in the good-and-evil world of electronic medical records, we can create a templated phrase to drop into clinic notes to educate colleagues, as well as patients, of the need for extra vigilance.
Samantha C. Shapiro, MD, is an academic rheumatologist and an affiliate faculty member of the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her training in internal medicine and rheumatology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. She is also a member of the ACR Insurance Subcommittee.
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