An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals
Thomas R. Collins
Tom Collins is a freelance writer in South Florida, who has written about medical topics from nasty infections to ethical dilemmas, runaway tumors to tornado-chasing doctors. He travels the globe gathering conference health news and lives in West Palm Beach.
During a session at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, Lisa Christopher-Stine, MD, MPH, provided valuable recommendations and practical insights into the care and treatment of myositis patients…
ATLANTA—When it comes to identifying reliable biomarkers that can predict worsening illness or help point to proper treatment, it’s hard to imagine a more vexing disease than systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), said Jill P. Buyon, MD, director of the Lupus Center at New York University Langone Medical Center, in the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting session…
ATLANTA—In a session at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, Susan Chrostowski, DNP, assistant clinical professor at Texas Woman’s University College of Nursing, Dallas, told the audience that she’d had a visit with a patient and asked how he was doing. “Not too good,” he said, explaining that his chest hurt. “What’s the matter with your…
ATLANTA—With growing demand for access to rheumatologists in rural areas, a shortage in the number of rheumatologists and the ability to use technology as a bridge to patients in remote areas, telemedicine seems like a smart option. And it certainly can be, experts said at a 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting session in November. But a…
Using virtual reality in rehabilitation can have benefits—as long as it is properly understood. In fact, some evidence suggests benefits from the judicious use of immersive virtual reality with patients with rheumatic diagnoses. People tend to have a lower perception of effort compared with actual exertion and lower reports of pain with longer time to exhaustion.
ATLANTA—In the late 1990s, at the Annual Meeting, a colleague asked Marian Hannan, DSc, MSc, who is now professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, if she wanted to go to a tourist attraction and talk about professional pursuits during a break at the conference. The colleague ranked higher than she did, and she didn’t…