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You are here: Home / Author: Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD, was born and raised in eastern Kentucky, where she first cultivated her love of literature, writing and personal narratives. She attended Kenyon college, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, summa cum laude. She worked with individuals with psychiatric conditions and later in a neuroscience lab at the University of Illinois, Chicago, before graduating from Indiana University Medical School in 2011. Instead of pursuing clinical medicine, Ruth opted to build on her strength of clearly explaining medical topics though a career as a freelance medical writer, writing both for lay people and for health professionals. She writes across the biomedical sciences, but holds strong interests in rheumatology, neurology, autoimmune diseases, genetics, and the intersection of broader social, cultural and emotional contexts with biomedical topics. Ruth now lives in Bloomington, Ind., with her husband, son and cat. She can be contacted via her website at ruthjessenhickman.com.

Articles by Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

ACR Convergence 2020 Kicks Off: Plenary session speakers highlight racial differences in lupus & COVID-19-related findings

November 7, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—The ACR’s first fully virtual annual meeting kicked off on Thursday, Nov. 5. During the Opening Session, ACR President Ellen M. Gravallese, MD, talked about how the specialty’s response during the pandemic has provided great hope and will help rheumatology become an even more essential specialty. At the first Plenary Session on Friday,… [Read More]

Photoroyalty / shutterstock.com

Race As a Risk Factor for Sjögrens Syndrome

October 19, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

A new study in Arthritis Care & Research highlights potential differences in incidence, the presentation of prominent symptoms and laboratory findings in African Americans and Native Americans with Sjögren’s syndrome compared with white populations. Native Americans appear to be at higher risk of the disease, although they often display fewer of the classic symptoms. Importantly,… [Read More]

Nerve Growth Factor Inhibitor Study Highlights Promise as an OA Pain Treatment

October 1, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

A study highlights the potential of fasinumab, an anti-nerve growth factor monoclonal antibody, as a pain treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Research into the risks and benefits of this therapeutic class for OA are ongoing…... [Read More]

Corona Borealis Studio / shutterstock.com

The Reliability & Utility of Serological Antibody Tests in COVID-19

September 11, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Serological testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies may play a critical role in the management of the worldwide health crisis. Such testing may reveal key information for epidemiology, convalescent plasma therapies and vaccine development. However, the situation is complex, and much is unknown. Although such testing may ultimately be used to… [Read More]

Talk It Up! 5th Annual Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month

August 17, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

This September marks the ACR’s fifth annual Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month (RDAM), which is designed to build support and advocate for patients with rheumatic diseases. This year’s theme, “My disease may be invisible, but I’m not,” emphasizes patients’ personal experiences…... [Read More]

nukeaf / shutterstock.com

The History of Treating Lupus with Hydroxychloroquine

June 15, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Given how unexpectedly front and center hydroxychloroquine has been in discussions about the treatment of COVID-19 this year, it makes sense to look at how it became so central to the treatment of a rheumatologic condition. In 1991, an article appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine that would alter the way rheumatologists approached… [Read More]

Serological Antibody Tests in COVID-19: Test Reliability and Utility

June 10, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Serological testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies may play a critical role in the management of the worldwide health crisis. Such testing may reveal key information for epidemiology, convalescent plasma therapies and vaccine development. However, the situation is complex, and much is unknown. Although such testing may ultimately be used to… [Read More]

PAD4 Antibodies May Help Predict Treatment Response in Rheumatoid Arthritis

January 17, 2020 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

A study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology highlights how the presence of autoantibodies to peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) may eventually be used to influence treatment decisions in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), sharpening our understanding of disease subtypes.1 Although follow-up prospective studies are needed, these findings underline some intriguing areas for future investigations in immunobiology…. [Read More]

Nelosa/shutterstock.com

Men, Women & Medical Differences in Axial Spondyloarthropathy

October 24, 2019 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

Historically, ankylosing spondylitis was considered mainly a male disease. But it has become evident this predominance is not as great as previously believed. Here we discuss recent developments in the area, including potential differences between the sexes in symptom and disease burden, immunological and genetic background, diagnostic delay, treatment response and ongoing research questions. Medical… [Read More]

Study Says Mothers’ Cardiovascular Health Is Linked to Pregnancy Outcomes in Lupus

October 18, 2019 • By Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD

A recent study in The Journal of Rheumatology sheds light on the importance of preconceptional cardiovascular health in women with systemic lupus erythematosus. Although many questions remain, improved cardiovascular health measures seem to positively affect pregnancy outcomes, suggesting a potential role for preconception cardiovascular interventions.1 Women with lupus now have healthier pregnancies than in the… [Read More]

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