Live Yes! With Arthritis Podcast-Episode 2-Mindfulness

Living with arthritis can lead to major stress. Which can lead to more pain! It’s a vicious cycle that can leave you mentally and physically exhausted. Research suggests that mindfulness practices can help people living with chronic pain. But the idea of even practicing mindfulness and meditation to break that pain chain can be scary. In this episode, Rebecca and Julie learn how stress impacts our bodies and our brains. They explore simple ways to introduce mindfulness into arthritis care management. Dr. Nicole Reilly helps us understand how our bodies respond to pain and what we can do to break the cycle. ...more

Let’s Add an Out-of-Pocket Cap in Medicare Part D

My name is Andrea Penny Greenblatt, and I’ve had psoriatic arthritis for over 35 years. I’m also an Arthritis Foundation Advocate. About four years ago, I joined the Medicare program and faced unexpectedly high out-of-pocket costs on Medicare Part D. Last March, when I participated in the Arthritis Foundation’s Advocacy Summit, I told as many people as I could about my challenge. At that time, there wasn’t much anyone could do since no solutions were being discussed. But I’ve been reading about what Congress is now trying to do to cap out-of-pocket costs, and I wanted to share my story so ...more

Top Tips for Testifying at a Hearing!

In October, I joined forces with fellow Arthritis Foundation advocates to testify on step therapy reform. We traveled to the Massachusetts State House in Boston and shared our stories with legislators. Testifying at a bill hearing may seem intimidating, but here are my tips for making it less scary. Legislators want to hear from their constituents. They appreciate you taking the time to come and weigh in on a bill that matters to you. It if helps you, bring notes to reference. Remember, its impossible for legislators to know about every bill being debate, so it is our job to educate our ...more

Greyson Chess Keeps Plugging Away

This 10-year-old boy from Ohio won’t let arthritis stop him from having fun, because he knows he can handle it. Even when his juvenile arthritis is acting up and his joints hurt, Greyson Chess just keeps plugging away and rarely complains about his pain. An avid soccer player and skier, this active 10-year-old also enjoys lacrosse, basketball, snowboarding and going to the beach. During spring break earlier this year, he got to travel with his parents and two sisters, Ava and Piper, to Costa Rica. That might all be different if Greyson hadn’t responded so well to the treatment he’s been on ...more

54 Million Reasons to Give on #GivingTuesday

Picture this: You’re walking through your local CVS Health store. Your hips and toes have already started burning. All you want to do is get back into your car to sit, but even that’s a challenge. As you make your way to the pain aisle, you want something — anything — to make it go away. You put a hot and cold compress into your cart. But bending down to lift the Epsom salt is going to be a challenge. Should you ask the stranger shopping next to you for help? This is the daily reality for 1 in 4 people ...more

Studies Target New Treatments for Hand OA

Two drugs used for decades to treat inflammatory forms of arthritis may also benefit some people with hand osteoarthritis (OA). That’s according to two new studies presented at the 2019 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) annual meeting in early November in Atlanta. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 40 percent of people will develop hand OA at some point in their lives, but contrary to popular belief that onset comes at an older age, it often starts in mid-life. Stiff, painful fingers can make it hard to engage in the most common activities of daily living, such ...more

Arthritis Today’s Snapshots from the ACR Meeting: Part 3

The editors of Arthritis Today magazine were on the scene, collecting news and information to share with readers from the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) Annual Meeting, November 9-13, in Atlanta. Here are a few of the many interesting and enlightening research topics they learned about. The Search for Osteoarthritis Therapies “Novel Therapies for Osteoarthritis” included both positive and negative results. First, the not-so-great news: Marc Hochberg, MD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, discussed the safety results of the anti-nerve growth factor drug, tanezumab, which has received a lot of attention but hasn’t yet been reviewed for approval by ...more

Arthritis Today’s Snapshots from the ACR Meeting: Part 2

The editors of Arthritis Today magazine were on the scene, collecting news and information to share with readers from the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) Annual Meeting, November 9-13, in Atlanta. Here are a few of the many interesting and enlightening research topics they learned about. Genes Play a Role in Disease Changes in Pregnancy What do women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) expect when they are expecting? The rule of thumb has long been that RA goes quiet during pregnancy but flares after delivery. But that’s not true for everyone, and researchers in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Oakland, California, are trying to figure ...more

Arthritis Today’s Snapshots from the ACR Meeting: Part 1

The editors of Arthritis Today magazine were on the scene, collecting news and information to share with readers from the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) Annual Meeting, November 9-13, in Atlanta. Here are a few of the many interesting and enlightening research topics they learned about. Anti-inflammatory Diet Improves Disease There has long been uncertainty whether diet influences disease activity in inflammatory arthritis. Two studies presented some evidence that it does. In one study, 17 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), defined as at least three tender and three swollen joints, followed an anti-inflammatory diet for two weeks. Blood tests before, during ...more

Meet Sabina Ratner: One of Our Newest Foundation Sponsored Fellows!

Because access to care is not always guaranteed, we’ve been working to help close the gap on the nation’s rheumatologist shortage through our fellowship initiative. This year we announced four new fellowship awards . One of those grants was offered to SUNY Downstate Medical Center, which recently announced their fellowship has been awarded to Dr. Sabina Ratner. Dr. Ratner will be a welcome addition to this program. She began her undergraduate training at Brooklyn College, followed by graduate training as a physician’s assistant (PA) at SUNY Downstate in NY. She earned her medical degree from American University of Antigua College of ...more