Rheumatology

Heart disease in the shadows: a closer look at cardiac sarcoidosis

Conditions
August 14, 2023

My new internist began my annual checkup with a nervous confession: “You are my first patient with cardiac sarcoidosis.” Even during an urgent care visit for potential cellulitis, I was met with raised eyebrows from the treating physician who reviewed my chart: “Very interesting, I’ve never seen a case of this heart disease.” With over 7000 rare diseases affecting more than 25 million people in the United States alone, patients …

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Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and regenerative injection therapy [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 5, 2023
YouTube video

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Join Francisco M. Torres, an interventional physiatrist, and Felix S. Linetsky, a pain management physician, as they delve into the world of chronic pain and its often misunderstood connection to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). They discuss the challenges …

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Modern medicine is disappointing to many of us at the later end of our careers

Physician
July 10, 2023

I graduated from medical school in 1995. I completed an internal medicine and pediatrics residency in 1999, after which I spent three years in private practice, then moved on to a hospitalist practice for the next four years. From there, I transitioned to an ER job, where I have been for the last seventeen years.

In the ER, my role initially involved expeditiously seeing patients and only performing what was absolutely …

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Finding hope and relief: a physical therapist’s journey with chronic pain and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)

Conditions
May 19, 2023

The day Ann entered my clinic, I had already been practicing pain management for over ten years. A 40-something physical therapist, she had a warm smile, a positive attitude—and chronic pain in every part of her back.

Twenty-five years earlier, Ann had been inspired to go into physical therapy to help her family members who suffered from severe chronic pain to the point of disability. However, to her dismay, upon graduating …

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Breaking barriers in arthritis care with telemedicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 18, 2023
YouTube video

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In this episode, we welcome Diana M. Girnita, a rheumatologist and founder and CEO of Rheumatologist OnCall. We discuss the challenges facing patients with arthritis and the shortage of rheumatologists. Despite the growing need for specialized care, …

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Navigating complex medical issues: one family’s story of advocacy and hope [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 18, 2023
YouTube video

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In this episode, we have a special guest, Laura Fernando, a patient advocate, who shares her heart-wrenching story of her daughter Lily’s medical journey with COVID-19 and other health conditions. Joining her and Lily is Linda Bluestein, …

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From diagnosis to digital health advocate: Navigating lupus in the era of technology

Conditions
February 17, 2023

It’s been over ten years since my life changed forever. In 2012, I was out to dinner with a friend when I developed a rash across my face. Little did I know, this was an early sign of what would soon be a life-altering discovery; I have lupus. Receiving this diagnosis was both challenging and overwhelming and showed me the importance of being your own advocate. It took a fainting …

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Gaslighting and dismissal: the consequences of invalidating patients’ concerns

Physician
February 12, 2023

Social media has really exposed the trauma caused by gaslighting, dismissal, and misogyny by medical professionals. Chronic illness groups are rife with posts recounting the poor treatment they suffered at the hands of doctors. Imagine presenting with extreme fatigue, intermittent balance problems, and tingling in your hands and, after a cursory exam, being told your symptoms are due to stress and to lose weight. Two years later, you are diagnosed …

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Treating rare, multi-system illnesses [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 4, 2023
YouTube video

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“If patients had an accurate diagnosis and their physicians knew the root of their illness and could treat it effectively, then the medical care costs would go down. The effect on patients of being diagnosed years earlier …

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My daughter and COVID: a tale of 3 doctors

Conditions
November 4, 2022

It was the best of medical encounters; it was the worst of medical encounters. But it is indeed a story of how two physicians viewed the same situation very differently, and how one brought trauma to a young patient, and one (two) brought healing to that very patient with the same set of information.

My daughter was a healthy and vibrant 12-year-old when she first had COVID in June 2020. She …

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Why adopt a lifestyle pyramid for rheumatoid arthritis?

Conditions
November 2, 2022

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune disease affecting approximately 1.5 million people only in the United States. The most common symptoms that will bring patients to the doctor are:

Unfortunately, rheumatoid arthritis is not only a disease of the joints. Chronic, ongoing inflammation …

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Having more doctors to assess rare, multi-system illnesses

Conditions
October 29, 2022

From an Indian parable dated from before 500 BCE:

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: “We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable.” So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. …

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If you can’t connect the issues, think connective tissues [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 25, 2022
YouTube video

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“When Lauren came to my office as a 16-year-old, she had been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and a few other chronic illnesses. By the end of the appointment, she left with a diagnosis of …

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Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 20, 2022
YouTube video

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“ME/CFS is a complex multi-system illness that destroys lives (essentially killing the person yet leaving them alive).  It leaves patients with unimaginable fatigue, post-exertional malaise (meaning that minor exertion makes them feel worse), cognitive deficits, cardiovascular dysfunction, …

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Focus on the rheumatoid arthritis patient, not on their disease

Conditions
September 16, 2022

Medical school, residency, and fellowship taught me pathophysiology, diagnosis, and the most advanced treatments for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. As an attending physician, seeing my own patients, I noticed that targeted therapy is not able to control the disease in all patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results varied. I could not stop asking myself, why is it so different?

In my previous article, I wrote about one of my patient’s …

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A paradigm of perseverance

Physician
August 31, 2022

At her Supreme Court confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson recounted a story from her time as a college undergraduate. She recalled being a freshman at Harvard after having attended public school in Miami, Florida, and her transition to life at the university had been challenging, causing her to question if she belonged at the school and if she could succeed. She was …

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The role of nutrition in rheumatology patients

Conditions
July 31, 2022

Five years ago, I met a patient that changed my view on practicing traditional medicine, especially when it comes to rheumatology. For years, I was proud to be in a booming field that provided patients with a new therapy every few years. As a physician and scientist, I believe that targeted therapy offers tools to treat patients like never before, but I have noticed that results vary over time.

Daniel was …

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