This is going to sound strange and I hesitate to even say it…but after 10+ years of diagnosing and caring for lupus patients, I feel like I can “smell” lupus. It’s weird, I know. But when I’m approaching a consult, whether in the clinic or in the hospital, my lupus-spidey-sense gets activated if the patient has lupus. When I teach young doctors-in-training and listen to their long list of possible diagnoses, I get excited but also impatient, waiting for them to reach the same conclusion I’ve already reached.
[Read more…] about Do you have common lupus symptoms?Articles
What you need to know about Lupus – Pt 2
Lupus is not a diagnosis that anyone wants to hear come from their doctor’s mouth. It’s not very well understood by most and although it can be comforting to know the reason for your symptoms, it can be downright terrifying to think about your future. Lupus is a condition of ups and downs, sometimes extreme downs, but it is possible to live a happy, full life while also living with lupus.
[Read more…] about What you need to know about Lupus – Pt 2What you need to know about Lupus – Pt. 1
Residency training is an intense time for young doctors. The sheer amount of technical, pharmaceutical and physiology information you are expected to learn is overwhelming. It is not just numbers and equations that weigh heavy, but the interpersonal aspects of the training. The so-called “art of medicine.” Integral to this training is the “giving of bad news.” Some conditions are worse than others, but regardless of what you are about to disclose, telling someone they have a condition that will alter the course of their life, like lupus, is never easy.
[Read more…] about What you need to know about Lupus – Pt. 1Chronic Pain & The Nervous System
Chronic Pain. Fibromyalgia. Arthritis. So many have to deal with the accusation that it is “all in your head.” Even if said with the best intentions, this statement is gaslighting at it’s finest. It is telling those with pain, that what they feel and experience isn’t real. Which, of course, we know it is.
[Read more…] about Chronic Pain & The Nervous SystemArthritis & the Heart Disease
Heart disease. We all know about it, we all want to prevent it and sadly, we all know someone with it. When we think of heart disease, our minds naturally think of heart attacks or maybe heart failure. We think of an overweight man with high blood pressure and diabetes, although we know women are just as affected. But did you know that inflammatory arthritis can be associated with heart disease? In fact, most autoimmune or inflammatory arthritis types can lead to disease of every part of the heart. Watch the video above or keep reading to learn more!
[Read more…] about Arthritis & the Heart Disease