TIPS for Arthritis Travelers
Travel can be challenging for arthritis patients. Here are some useful tips to travel smoothly and pain free.
Blogs
It's the engine that kills ya’, not the caboose
This past weekend I was fortunate to lecture at the Harvard Advances in Rheumatology Course, where I reviewed the safety issues surrounding the use of biologic therapies. In discussing infections, cancer, cardiovascular events, etc., it became very clear to me that these problems, while worrisome, are often escalated in their importance – all at the expense of what is most dangerous: RA itself.
Go Ahead, Jump!
You write the prescription, hand it to the patient and explain why it’s needed, how to take it and what the most common or most dangerous side effects might be. Comprehensive, reasonable, and professional. Certainly the patient should fill the prescription and start the drug.
My Nurse Practitioner
My NP is not only a great nurse, counselor, rheumatologist, complex disease manager, joint injector, diabetes expert, clinic leader, mother, wife, and friend – she’s the go to person if you’re a patient, coworker, colleague, cousin or neighbor. She is one of few great partnerships in my entire career. To go to battle with a NP at my side gives me a tremendous daily advantage.
The Purse Exam: a Forgotten Part of the Physical
Should you assess your patients' “purse-onality? The purse exam is an important part of the physical that can help make the diagnosis and improve patient outcomes. I often wonder if downsizing the purse should be part of the T2T (treat to target) initiative.
MONEYBALL
The movie Moneyball is a David versus Goliath tale with the A’s (David) struggling to compete with Goliath teams like the Yankees. The movie pits hunch-driven “expertise” (convention) against a mathematic approach to decision making (Moneyball). Would you trust a big Whopper computer printout of next best drug(s) to give to Mrs. Hawking who has psoriatic arthritis and needs to start a DMARD? I believe most of you would huff and scoff at a formulaic or number-driven approach.
Time for a Paradigm Change in Rheumatoid Arthritis
How many clues are needed for a rheumatologist to know something is wrong with the therapeutic soup he/she is trying to concoct? One patient's tale leads to rethinking the RA treatment paradigm.
TIPS for Arthritis Travelers
Travel can be challenging for arthritis patients. Here are some useful tips to travel smoothly and pain free.
The Brooklyn HAQ
The Health Assessment Questionnaire is a utilitarian outcome measure, often used in clinical trials and daily practice. Unless you’re still prescribing penacillamine, never attended an ACR meeting, and never read an RA clinical trial, you’re quite familiar with the HAQ and its use in practice. So, surely you’ve heard of the “Brooklyn HAQ”?
I Got a Hug Today
It was at the end of the visit with the patient I've only seen three or four times for her osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and back pain.
Guiding Patients Considering Biologics
What are the questions patients should ask their doctors about biologics? Are there rules for starting and stopping biologics?
Biologic Prescribing and Patient Education
Biologics are big. Their popularity is reflected in their growing use since being introduced in 1998. Biologics have been used by more than 3 million patients worldwide. In 2013, Enbrel, Remicade and Humira accounted for nearly $30 billion in worldwide sales. In the USA, it is estimated that we will spend $220 billion on biologics by 2017.
