Admittedly, there’s not much to see on a country road 100 miles southwest of Iowa City, Iowa. It’s especially true in winter, when a blanket of white snow obscures any and all features of the seemingly endless fields of corn and soy. In the radiance of fresh snow on a bright winter day, even the…
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.
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,…
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…
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….
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…
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…
Patient stories are a powerful way to highlight ways that healthcare policies affect the everyday lives of people with rheumatic diseases.
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…
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:…