RA2day: An Awareness Campaign for Rheumatoid Arthritis
I’m very excited to share this news. Today, RAHealthCentral has launched a new awareness campaign for RA called RA2day. It’s got real potential to pull us all together and give a realistic view of what it’s like to live with RA: “What does your experience with RA look like today? Is it an intimidating pile…
6 Steps to Happiness with RA
This week, I used National Tickling Month as a jumping off point to talk about how to get happy when you have a chronic illness: “When you are in the midst of RA, with all that comes with it, can you still be happy? When you’re juggling pain, exhaustion, a dizzying amount of meds and…
Closing the Mortality Gap: RA and Heart Disease
This week on HealthCentral, I’m looking at good news about Biologics and the systemic impact of RA: “It’s called the mortality gap. And none of us like to think about it. The average life expectancy of people with RA is 10 years less than the general population. RA is a systemic disease that affects not…
Building Bridges for Awareness: Contest Winners & Ideas
Remember the Amazing Awareness Contest held on HealthCentral’s RA site during the month of May? Today I announce the winners. But not just that – I also collect all the great suggestions 7ut were submitted for raising awareness in one place. Your go-to list for ideas on how to change the world: “You are all…
Everyday Life & RA: 10 Resources to Make It Easier
This week, I got super practical on HealthCentral: “For some, it’s the jar that might as well have a padlock. For others, it’s the childproof cap on a prescription bottle standing between them and relief of pain. Then there is the keyboard that makes your wrists hurt, scissors that cause the base joint in your…
Patients’ Access to Treatments Act/10 Grassroots Advocates
The last week of Arthritis Awareness Month had me writing about advocacy in two different spectrums (spectra??). First, the Patients’ Access to Treatments Act.This is an important bipartisan initiative to limit insurance companies from charging more in co-pays for Biologics than for other drugs: “When you have rheumatoid arthritis, medication can be an essential part…
A Call to Action: Increasing Physical Activity in Arthritis
The Arthritis Foundation is doing something very interesting. They’ve just released a report with recommendations for environmental and policy changes that can make it easier for people with arthritis to increase their physical activity. Great report, interesting interview with Dr. Patience White, VP of Public Health at the Foundation: “‘Arthritis is a major player in…
A HealthCentral Collection
It’s been really busy around here lately, so I haven’t had time to give you links to my recent HealthCentral articles. Therefore, you get three for the price of one! May is Arthritis Awareness Monthly in the US and we therefore have a lot of things on the go on HealthCentral’s RA site. First, and…
9 Tips for Managing Gastrointestinal Side Effects
Gastrointestinal symptoms were a big part of my post a while back about my adventures with side effects from Humira. This week on HealthCentral, I wrote about dealing with such side effects: “Many RA meds have one side effect in common: they can make your gastrointestinal system very unhappy. Acid reflux or GERD can make…
10 Tips for Building & Maintaining Energy
This week on HealthCentral, I’m looking in to the fatigue issue: “It feels as if somebody’s pulled your plug. As if you’re enfolded in a lead lined comforter, weighing you down with every step. A 2011 study published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases stated that 70 percent of people with RA experience a healthy…
Preventative Healthcare and RA
in the past couple of months, I have been writing a series on preventative healthcare and RA for HealthCentral. Many screening tests used in preventative healthcare are difficult or impossible to do for people who live with pain or who have mobility limitations. This week, I posted the last in the series (so far), so…
How To Have Satisfying Sex Depsite Chronic Pain
In Febriary, a bunch of HealtHCentral writers participated in the Valentine’s Day project. We wrote about sex, romance and other relationships and how they can be impacted by various illnesses. I posted my last contribution today – yes, I am aware it’s March, things got a bit delayed: “Sex is important. It puts a smile…