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

Sisters by Birth, Friends by Choice

Lauren McAllister, Kristen’s big sister, found her role and urges other JA siblings to do the same. “We’re lucky to be sisters, but we choose to be best friends,” says Lauren McAllister of her relationship with her sister, Kristen McAllister. (L-R) Kristen & Lauren Kristen began a long and painful journey with juvenile idiopathic arthritis 15 years ago, when she was 10 years old and Lauren was 12. It hasn’t been an easy road. “It is devastating to watch someone you love have to fight a battle that doesn’t have a cure,” says Lauren. “Where the medications that are supposed to help don’t ...more

Kristen McAllister: She Is Hope and Determination

This fierce Arthritis Warrior of Knoxville, Tennessee, has a fighting spirit. “There are a lot of things I can’t do,” says Kristen McAllister. “I feel like my story doesn’t necessarily give hope.” Kristen (center) in the hospital in 2015 with her brother and sister As a child, Kristen felt constantly tired and feverish. At age 10, she had knee and hand surgery for painful joints. By 13, after consulting many doctors, she was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, lupus and uveitis, an eye disease that can cause blindness. At times, the pain was agonizing, and she often felt alone, even as her family rallied ...more