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Search results for: musculoskeletal disease

American College of Rheumatology (ACR) on Capitol Hill

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“By tomorrow night, there will be so many more people on Capitol Hill who know—and are sensitive to—rheumatology and the issues that impact you and your patients. There is no substitute for what you are doing,” says Martha M. Kendrick, a partner at Patton Boggs, LLP, the ACR’s lobbying firm. This is what she told the physician, health professional, and patient participants of the ACR’s 2008 “Advocates for Arthritis” advocacy event—termed a fly-in—before they took their personal stories to the lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Giant Cell Arteritis

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Giant cell arteritis (GCA)—a type of vasculitis—is a group of diseases whose typical feature is inflammation of blood vessels. The blood vessels most commonly involved are the arteries of the scalp and head (especially the arteries over the temples), which is why another term for GCA is “temporal arteritis.” GCA can overlap with another rheumatic disease called polymyalgia rheumatica, and symptoms of the two conditions can occur at the same time or separately. The causes of GCA and polymyalgia rheumatica are unknown.

In Memoriam: John Bland, MD

Paul Plotz, MD  |  

John Hardesty Bland, MD, professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, died on March 15, 2007. He was midway through his 90th year, fulfilling the prescription of his last book, Live Long, Die Fast: Playing the Aging Game to Win, published when he was 80. A consummate rheumatologist and wonderful bedside doctor and teacher, Dr. Bland was also one of the genuine polymaths in the American medical world.

Increase NIH Funding, Participate in Advocates for Arthritis

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The ACR consistently urges Congress to support issues relating to rheumatologists, rheumatology health professionals, and patients. The primary advocacy goals are: supporting of the “Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act of 2007” (H.R.1283/S.626) and the “Access to Medicare Imaging Act of 2007” (H.R.1293/S.1338), finding a permanent solution to the Medicare reimbursement issue, and increasing funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—including the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—and other agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Medical and Prosthetic Research Program.