When designing healthcare spaces to foster wellness, you should first understand the particular patient illness being served and then determine that population’s fundamental needs. “Providers who serve patients with rheumatoid conditions should identify the range of clinical presentations specific to their patient population,” advises Sharon E. Woodworth, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, Healthcare Practice Leader, Perkins+Will Architects,…
Telling a patient that he or she has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis, fibromyalgia or another debilitating, painful and/or chronic condition can be upsetting for a patient to hear and difficult for a rheumatologist to convey. Given this, it’s important to prepare for the appointment. “Take a few minutes beforehand to contemplate…
Full disclosure: I am not a rabid fan of dogs. None rank among my best friends. Perhaps my antipathy stems from a memorable childhood event, when I was chased down the street where I lived by a neighbor’s large and not-so-friendly hound. He seemed to be twice my size, and this explains why I may…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The risk of serious infections increases in the early months of anti-TNF treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, researchers from Denmark report. “The pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha plays an important role in the immune system and therefore it is biologically plausible that TNF-alpha inhibitors may increase the risk of infections,” said Dr. Nynne Nyboe…
Chronic insomnia is a common complaint for patients with rheumatic diseases and conditions. In fact, sleep disturbances are among the most common symptoms of both fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with more than 50% of chronic pain patients reporting sleep disturbances. Pain combined with insomnia can lead to a vicious cycle, says Ruth Gentry, PhD,…
Researchers from California and Texas have identified a new genetic syndrome that is characterized by systemic autoimmune disease of the lung and joints. The syndrome is driven by a genetic variant of a vesicular transport protein and is the first documented association between intracellular transport and autoimmunity. Levi B. Watkin, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at Baylor…
It’s disheartening to stand by and watch helplessly as your patient dies a slow, painful death. In spring 1990, I had the misfortune of living through such a distressing experience. Strange happenings in New Mexico & Japan Ellen was a bookkeeper in her late 40s, living quietly in suburban Boston. For years, she hid a…
A report from the Institute of Medicine that gives new diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and recommends a new name for the disorder received mixed reviews from rheumatologists and other physicians.1 “Diagnosing ME/CFS often is a challenge … the new diagnostic criteria will make it easier for clinicians to recognize and accurately…
The beep of the cellphone text got me off the armchair. I had been feeling cozy and comfortable. Outside the window, it was a blissful winter wonderland—the one, I believe, Nat King Cole intended when recording “The Christmas Song.” But at the same time, I was anxious to hear whether my clinic would be canceled…
Bonus: Listen to excerpts from our conversation with Dr. Weinblatt. Michael Weinblatt, MD, is the co-director of clinical rheumatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, past president of the American College of Rheumatology, and co-director of the ACR Winter Rheumatology Symposium at Snowmass, Colo. Those are…