Gerica's Tips for the "New" Normal

By now, those of you reading this are likely experiencing a shelter-in-place order, school cancellations, or other social distancing situations in your own communities due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Here in California, our state is under a statewide shelter-in-place directive and I am on week 2 of 4 with my children’s schools transitioning to “distance learning”. Some districts in our area have already announced this will continue for the remainder of the school year. If you are anything like me, this sudden and massive change has rocked your family unit and you are trying to navigate the unfamiliar. Two weeks ...more

Meet Dr. Laura Cannon: One of Our Newest Foundation Sponsored Fellows

因为获得护理的机会并不总是得到保证，我们一直在努力通过我们的奖学金计划来帮助缩小国家风湿病学家短缺的差距。作为2020年5位新的奖学金获得者之一，杜克大学宣布他们的奖学金授予了劳拉·坎农博士。Cannon博士获得了Duke University的生物学学士学位(辅修英语)。她在北卡罗来纳大学教堂山医学院完成了医学学位，并在那里完成了儿科住院医师培训。之后，她回到杜克大学接受儿科风湿病奖学金培训。坎农博士解释说……more

2020 Virtual Advocacy Leadership Retreat: Key Takeaways From 20 Years of Advocacy

Advocacy Champions joined Advocacy staff online for the first Virtual Advocacy Leadership Retreat on March 10, 2020. Volunteers developed the entire program before COVID-19 made an in-person event unsafe. They designed keynotes, breakout sessions and “how to” advocacy posters in order to teach one another about advocacy leadership. Keeping programming true to the volunteer leaders’ plans while switching to a staff-run webcast was a unique challenge. Many organizations cancelled their conferences, but volunteers had worked too hard for the Arthritis Foundation to call it quits. As Staci Penner put it, “Even Coronavirus can’t stop advocacy for arthritis!” With the input and ...more

2020 Virtual Advocacy Leadership Retreat : The Power of Presence

I was full of nerves and excitement a year ago when my son and I traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend an Advocacy Summit. My son decided to become an Arthritis Foundation Junior Ambassador, and to support him I signed up as an Ambassador. I had no idea what to expect, but I was hoping to help my son find his voice. The funny thing was, I found mine. This year the Arthritis Foundation awarded me the distinction of Platinum Ambassador and I was invited to Washington, D.C for an Advocacy Leadership Retreat. The nerves and excitement returned, but I was ...more

It’s Easy to Walk With Ease

My name is Steven Schultz, and I’m the state director for advocacy and access at the Arthritis Foundation. Last fall, I had the great pleasure of joining Rep. Ami Bera, who represents the Sacramento area in Congress, for a Walk With Ease session. Walk With Ease teaches participants how to safely make physical activity part of their everyday life. Studies by the Thurston Arthritis Research Center and the Institute on Aging at the University of North Carolina show that Walk With Ease is proven to reduce the pain and discomfort of arthritis; increase balance, strength and walking pace; build confidence in ...more

Teen Fighting JA Says Knowledge Is Power

When Britney Gifford started complaining about aches and inflammation in her arms, legs and knees at the age of 5, her pediatrician assured her parents it was just growing pains — after all, she was one of the tallest kids in her class. As she grew older and showed zero interest in athletics, her parents assumed it was because she just had different hobbies and interests. By the time Britney was 10, she frequently told her parents about consistent pain in her ankles, knees and wrists. Again, they just believed she was growing and would give her ibuprofen. At 13, after ...more

A Mother’s Fight to Free Her Son From Pain

By Kristine DiDesidero, Mount Sinai, New York I remember the pain as a child. I complained to my mom about pain in my legs. Some nights I cried myself to sleep. My mom took me everywhere for answers. The doctors told her I had growing pains. I am 4 feet, 11 inches, and stopped growing in fifth grade. The reality is that I’ve spent most of my life with what I now know as a variety of autoimmune diseases.At 24, recently married, I became ill and was hospitalized. The doctors said they thought Ihad fibromyalgia. Over the years, I’ve also battled ...more

2020 WTCA Youth National Honorees

Conner, Ryan and Brayden Sowa The Sowa family’s journey with arthritis started years ago when Ryan, the middle brother, was diagnosed. Starting at 15 months old, Ryan would get random fevers and unexplained rashes, eventually leading to abdominal and joint pain. There were days he couldn’t even walk. Ryan went through a lot of testing and treatments, resulting in unanswered questions and misdiagnoses. It wasn’t until he was a month away from being able to play football that he was finally seen by a rheumatologist. Ryan had looked forward to playing football for many years after watching his older brother play. The day ...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

Our Global Message to Strengthen Patient Voices Is Heard at EULAR

患者的声音对于找到治疗骨性关节炎和其他类型关节炎的方法至关重要。这是关节炎基金会骨关节炎(OA)项目主任Angie Botto-van Bemden博士在6月12-15日于马德里举行的2019年欧洲风湿病大会上分享的信息。预计将有来自世界各地的1.6万多名代表参加。她传达的信息比以往任何时候都更重要，因为许多组织和监管机构已经开始转向只批准研究项目和药物，前提是必须将患者纳入试验设计和新疗法的开发，以帮助确定收益与风险比率。“人们…more