Kelly O'Neill, Author at Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior | Page 85 of 118

Rheumatoid Arthritis Complications

April 23, 2010May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 20 Comments Comprehensive RA Care, Rheumatoid arthritis and heart, Rheumatoid arthritis complications

How to view Rheumatoid Arthritis complications Typically, Rheumatoid Arthritis has extra-articular manifestations. That means it attacks the body outside of the joints. Seems like RA doesn’t know how to be only arthritis. In RA 101, I wrote that Rheumatoid Arthritis complications are secondary symptoms of RA. I’ve wondered whether the word complications serves us well since we...Continue reading 20 Comments » Read more

Comparison of Biologics for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

April 22, 2010May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 39 Comments Biologics for RA, Enbrel, Humira, Research on Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rituxan for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Which is best Biologic for Rheumatoid Arthritis? Rheumatoid Arthritis patients often compare notes about which Biologic they recommend. Which Biologic works best for RA? Which Biologic has fewest side effects? Does anyone know? Some new RA patients tell me that their doctors provide them with a list of Biologics and ask them to choose one on their...Continue reading 39 Comments » Read more

Bewilderment of Early Aggressive Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

April 20, 2010May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 51 Comments Communicating about RA, History of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Article assures Rheumatoid Arthritis patients of success of early aggressive treatment For your reading pleasure, I’ve typed up some excerpts from a pdf of the Sarasota Journal February 27 article called “Rheumatoid Arthritis Doesn’t Need to Cripple.” This article had an effect on me. You will see why in a moment. “Most people with Rheumatoid Arthritis...Continue reading 51 Comments » Read more

The History of Cortisone and Rheumatoid Arthritis

April 19, 2010May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 16 Comments History of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Prednisone and Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Memory lane with Mayo and cortisone history History comes to life with Popular Science magazine’s historical issues. They are conveniently scanned into an archive viewer online. The screen shot here shows part of a graphic from a June 1951 issue. The article describes theories of why cortisone was so successful in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis. Looks like...Continue reading 16 Comments » Read more

Would Relying on Patient Generated Data Make a Difference?

April 16, 2010May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 10 Comments Patient reported outcome measure, Physician-patient discordance / disagreement, Talking to doctors

Discrepancy between patient generated data and clinician reported data Recently on the blog, I mentioned an oft-quoted study which suggests that the disease course for Rheumatoid Arthritis is becoming milder. Something puzzled me at the end of the report. The researchers noticed that Rheumatoid Arthritis patients’ ratings of their disease activity were opposite to that of...Continue reading 10 Comments » Read more

How Much Does Patient Testimony Matter?

April 15, 2010May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 19 Comments Parvovirus and Rheumatoid arthritis, Patient reported outcome measure, Talking to doctors

A story about patient testimony In this blog, I’m going do something I don’t often do: use personal patient testimony to illustrate a point. Today, I took my teenage son to a new ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doctor. My son’s ENT history was interesting to the doctor. Reliving the story today was poignant. As an infant, my...Continue reading 19 Comments » Read more

What if Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Wrote a Dear Doctor Letter?

April 13, 2010May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 32 Comments e-patient, Humor with RA, Talking to doctors

Silly Fantasy for Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients What if we could say whatever we think to a doctor? Sometimes, I imagine what it would be like to write the doctor a letter. Here is my imaginary letter. Some Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient Secrets Dear Doctor, Well, I’ve been looking forward to our appointment next week. It’s been several months. I hope...Continue reading 32 Comments » Read more