The Seated View

Really exciting news! We're getting much closer to finding the cause of RA: "A new study has found a direct link between specific bacteria in the gut and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) -- an exciting discovery that could bring us closer to understanding the cause or causes of RA. Micro bacteria in the gut Each of us has a collection of microbacteria in our guts. The collection, which weighs roughly three pounds in an adult, is called the microbiome and is made up of about 1,000 different bacterium species. Microbacteria play an important role in our health: some protect us against illness, while others possibly play a role in the development of certain illnesses. Previous research has implicated certain specific microbacteria as being associated with RA , but the exact role and dynamic was not known." Find out more about this study and its implications in my HealthCentral post.  

Martin Pistorius was 12 years old when he got sick. Over the next year, he gradually lost function of his body, his speech, and his mind. The doctors did not know what was wrong with him, but treated him for a bit of everything with no effect. At the end, they told his parents that he had the cognitive ability of a three month old child, and likely had no more than two years to live. They also said his parents should take him home to die. A few years after that, Martin started waking up, becoming aware of his surroundings and regaining his mind. Unfortunately, he did not regain the use of his body, so no one knew that he was back to being himself again. This lasted more than 10 years. Once he was in his early 20s, one of his caregivers noticed that he was responding as she spoke to him. She persuaded his parents to get him tested again and this was the start of his journey with augmentative communication and regaining part of his physical ability. Ghost Boy: The M...

A new study finds that accidental overdoses of methotrexate are causing an increase in deaths. More on this and how to be safe in my new post for HealthCentral: "A new study out of Australia shows a worrying increase in accidental overdoses of methotrexate , a drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). About methotrexate Methotrexate is an immunosuppressant drug originally developed as chemotherapy for leukemia and other cancers. Smaller doses also proved to offer effective treatment for RA, and since the 1990s it has become the gold standard. It is administered weekly, either in tablets or injection form. Methotrexate often is prescribed with folic acid to combat side effects, such as potential hair loss. Individuals taking this medication also may be prescribed prednisone ." You can read the rest of the methotrexate post here .

My new post for Mango Health is about coping with the mortality risks of RA: "The first time I heard the term ‘mortality risks’ associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I wanted to stick my head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich. If I can’t see it, it isn’t happening. Right? Although repression is my favorite coping strategy, it does absolutely nothing to deal with a very real phenomenon. When you live with rheumatoid arthritis, you have an increased risk of death. It’s called the ‘mortality gap’ , and it refers to the lower life expectancy that historically has affected people who have RA. That’s a really scary thing to read. Much of RA is already unnerving — inflammation, fatigue, pain, and the possibility of deformities in your joints. After living with this disease since I was four years old, I’d gotten used to that, though. But potentially dying because of it, and early? That would severely interfere with my plan to live to at least 100 years ol...

The movie version of the book Me Before You: A Novel (Movie Tie-In) came out last week and the disability community isn’t happy. And for once, I disagree with my community. I should mention that I haven’t seen the movie (yet), but did read the book about six months ago and liked it a lot. I should also warn you that this is an opinion piece and therefore spoilers abound. A short (spoiler-intense) summary: Louisa “Lou” Clark gets hired on to provide care for Will Trainer, who became a quadriplegic in an accident. And he wants to die. Will has promised his parents six months and they have promised him that if he hasn’t changed his mind, they will accompany him to Dignitas, a Swiss clinic that provides assisted suicide services. Louisa and WIll fall in love, but it doesn’t change his mind. Objections to the movie state that it is a disability snuff movie . That it has a message that the disabled life isn’t worth living, that you become a burden to others,...