Rheum Advisor on Air Rheumatology Advisor

Pain – the main manifestation of many rheumatic diseases, but also the most underappreciated, leads to worse disease outcomes and affects the quality of life of patients.
Over the last decade or so, animal models and modern technology have highlighted the complex mechanisms that underlie chronic pain in rheumatology.
To get further insight on the various aspects of chronic pain, we speak with Don L. Goldenberg, MD, about its pathophysiology and diagnostic classification criteria for chronic pain conditions. Deeba Minhas, MD, provides a perspective on addressing implicit biases among patients with rheumatic disease and pain.

Feelings of stress, fatigue, and exhaustion – what is being described as “burnout” – have become a common occurrence among providers, including rheumatologists, with important implications in clinical practice. Various surveys and studies have reported a substantial prevalence of burnout (approximately 50%) among rheumatology providers.
Beth L. Jonas, MD, Reeves Foundation Distinguished Professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins us on this episode to provide deeper insight on the issue of “burnout” from a clinical practice standpoint.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis and lupus are the most common rheumatic diseases in children. However, more than 500,000 children develop other rheumatic diseases. The diagnosis, treatment, and management of these conditions often require a multidisciplinary approach owing to the diverse clinical manifestations that present in this patient population.
In light of Rare Disease Day 2022, we spoke with Emily von Scheven, MD, a pediatric rheumatologist at the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital and the executive committee chair of CARRA, and Vincent Del Gaizo, director of partnerships and patient engagement for CARRA and a parent of a pediatric patient with rheumatic disease.

Rheumatologists and neurologists are known to manage and collaborate between their specialties in the care of patients with shared diagnoses, such as disorders of the central nervous system, like giant cell arthritis and neuropsychiatric lupus.
In this episode, done in collaboration with Neurology Advisor, neurologist Michael Kornberg, MD, and rheumatologist Laura C. Cappelli, MD, discuss the management of patients with rheumatologic conditions with neurologic manifestations, including defining the term "neurorheumatology," encouraging better collaboration between the 2 specialties, and improving access to care for this patient population.

The importance of patient perspectives, ie, the behaviors, concerns, and experiences of patients with rheumatic conditions, and patient-reported outcomes, were highlighted through several studies presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2021.

In this episode, Shilpa Venkatachalam, PhD, MPH, and Betty Hsiao, MD, discuss research carried out by their respective teams emphasizing the role of the patient voice in rheumatology research and clinical practice. 

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence held in November 2021 included several important abstracts and sessions in gout research.
In this episode, Ada Kumar, MD, of Horizon Therapeutics, and Suneet Grewal, MD, of East Bay Rheumatology Medical Group, provide an overview of the compelling news and research in gout, as presented at the ACR annual meeting.