At ACR Convergence 2022, three women with rheumatic diseases discuss the profound life changes that the diseases wrought and ways they’ve found to cope.
Patients Fight Against Dark Days & Find Ways to Cope
PHILADELPHIA—Amy Gietzen started feeling the pain when she was 19. Her forearms, elbows, wrists and fingers were constantly swollen and sensitive. Six months later, she saw a doctor and was diagnosed with systemic diffuse scleroderma—a particularly hard-to-manage rheumatic disease with wide-ranging effects. Ms. Gietzen, who spoke at ACR Convergence 2022 and is a public speaker,…
Please Hear Me: How Effective Provider-Patient Communication Improved My Psoriatic Arthritis
PHILADELPHIA—“At age 12, I was diagnosed with psoriasis (PsO), followed by a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at age 30,” said Ashley Krivohlavek of Oklahoma City in a poster presentation at ACR Convergence 2022. “I’m now 38.” Ms. Krivohlavek’s Story In 2020, I had been on an infused biologic for 18 months, but my…
From Denial of Spondyloarthritis to a Support Group Leader & Medical Doctor of Rheumatology: A Patient’s Perspective
PHILADELPHIA—“My symptoms started in the final year of medical school, and at that stage I believed I was strong enough to fight my condition,” said Shung Ming Chiu, MD, in a poster presentation at ACR Convergence 2022. “Later, I realized that it’s not [about] fighting [but] rather accepting it and adapting to the new normal….
Bangalore House Call: A Patient’s Story
On a highway traversed by cement trucks and Beetle-Bug auto-rickshaws we travel north from Bangalore, India, for a house call. It is 2007, and the city leaves us grudgingly. Between fields of loose chocolate soil and sprigs of beans poking skyward, the skeletons of homes and businesses rise; armies of workers lay brick from wooden…
Psoriatic Arthritis & the Obese Patient
Estimates from the National Psoriasis Foundation indicate that more than 8 million people in the U.S. suffer from psoriasis and that approximately 30% of those individuals develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA).1 Given these statistics, roughly 2.4 million people in the country are likely affected by PsA. Moreover, patients with this systemic condition carry a higher-than-average burden…
Simple Tasks Seeks Compelling Patient Stories for Awareness Campaign
Patient stories are a powerful way to highlight ways that healthcare policies affect the everyday lives of people with rheumatic diseases.
Ethics Forum: Balancing Competing Interests to Meet Patients’ Needs
Scenario: A patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presents for a follow-up visit. After addressing her inflammatory arthritis symptoms, medications and laboratory results, she is asked if she has any other questions, and she begins describing her chronic low back pain, which has become worse despite physical therapy (PT). She requests stronger medications because her RA…
Research Roundup: Abstract Data Presented at ACR Convergence 2021
The research presented at ACR Convergence 2021 had a broad scope. Below are details on three studies that addressed cardiovascular safety in treat-to-target strategies, phase 2 study results on the efficacy of tigulixostat and the impact of patient preference on treatment adherence. Take our quiz after you read this article. Treat to Target Abstract L06:…
Vax Hesitancy? Myths & Facts for Patients
Although more than 189,300,000 eligible Americans are fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 as of Oct. 18, 2021, vaccine hesitancy persists.1 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey collected between May 26 and June 7, 2021, reports that in some U.S. counties—particularly in the Southeast…
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