Treatment Discussions of Rheumatoid Arthritis on Inspire

Treatment Discussions of Rheumatoid Arthritis on Inspire By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH When someone says “arthritis,” do you imagine an elderly person? When joints deteriorate through age and use, that’s osteoarthritis. But patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are fighting being actively crippled by their own immune systems, a disease that is unrelated to age. According to the Global RA Network, 1 in every 100 people gets RA. Both the disease and its treatments entail widespread consequences.1 It’s not surprising that patients and caregivers discuss RA-related symptoms and treatments across Inspire, but especially in the Arthritis Support Community [...]

Video Vignettes: Through Your Own Lens – Living With Invisible Disease

Video Vignettes: Through Your Own Lens - Living With Invisible Disease Looking "well" is a common challenge among people who live with invisible illnesses and chronic disease.  Some call themselves “spoonies”: people who hear “but you don’t look sick” throughout their lives, while actually managing serious illness.  The term “spoonie” comes from a blog post written in 2010 by Christine Miserandino called The Spoon Theory.1  In this post, Miserandino, who has lupus, described how she was able to help her best friend understand life with a chronic illness. To tell the story briefly: Holding 12 spoons, Christine [...]