My first-ever medical mission trip, after 37 years of medical practice, was to Teleman, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Prior to the trip, my excitement as an adult-trained rheumatologist was balanced against my apprehension about witnessing new diseases, caring for children and practicing in an austere environment with limited medical resources. As directed by the travel clinic,…
A recent study reinforces the growing understanding that the fatigue many SLE patients experience should be considered a lupus symptom. Researchers found that using patient-reported outcomes to identify type 2 symptoms of SLE may improve patient communication, understanding and overall care…
Afton Hassett, PsyD, offers self-care tips and resources to handle stress, avoid burnout and stay healthy while caring for others.
Rheumatic disease affects not just the body, but can also compound psychiatric disturbances, including depression, anxiety, fatigue and more, possibly making the underlying disease worse…
In this time of COVID-19, you may be considering ways to deliver routine rheumatologic care via some form of telemedicine. Here are some of the legal considerations.
ATLANTA—Rheumatic diseases have been the subject of a range of public health campaigns and reports over the past decade, but improving their visibility remains a work in progress, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expert said at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. A growing attention to pain and the opioid crisis may help…
Public health agencies have been raising the profile of arthritis…
More than half of regular opioid users suffer from arthritis. Here are three tips to talk to your patients about opioid use and alternative pain management…
The opioid epidemic in the U.S. has destroyed thousands of lives and torn families apart. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 130 people in the U.S. die each day from an opioid overdose. From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 died as a result of drug overdoses. In 2017,…
More than 72,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2017, according to the National Institutes of Health.1 The impact of the opioid epidemic has affected many levels of patient care and, as a result, healthcare systems are responding to escalating death rates, new legislation and the possibility of compromised patient safety in a multitude of…