When you first get diagnosed with a rheumatic disease like RA, PSA or AS, the learning curve can be steep – almost like learning a new language!
That’s why in my Rheum to THRIVE self-paced course, I start by helping you get a handle on the basics, including:
- ✅ Rheumatic Disease (RD) 101
- ✅ Arthritis 101
- ✅Inflammation 101
- ✅ Overview of RA, PsA & Spondyloarthritis
- ✅Treatment for Rheumatic Diseases 101 (DMARDS, biologics, NSAIDs, lifestyle interventions and more!)
- ✅Review of Common Terminology & FAQs
- ✅Medical Literacy: what it is and how to develop it (beyond taking this course!)
- ✅Who are the members of your medical and support team and how can they help?
What is arthritis and how are rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis different from osteoarthritis?
When I was first diagnosed, I was super confused how I had a condition with the word “arthritis” in the name, yet it also had so many other symptoms including fatigue, eye inflammation and possible lung effects. Over time I learned that arthritis isn’t actually a diagnosis, rather it’s a symptom meaning “joint inflammation.” Over 100 different conditions fall under the umbrella of “arthritis,” or conditions that can cause joint inflammation.
I have amalgamated data from many sources to create my version of a simple to understand chart below; citations include Creaky Joints Australia‘s “classifications of arthritis” chart, “Biological classification of childhood arthritis: roadmap to a molecular nomenclature“ (2021) and the fact pages on Rheumatology.org from the American College of Rheumatology.
What is a rheumatic disease?
According to Johns Hopkins and the CDC, rheumatic disease is a general term for diseases that affect the joints, tendons, muscle, ligaments, bones, and muscles. They can also affect the internal organs and connective tissue.
“Rheumatic disease” is an umbrella term that covers far more than just rheumatoid arthritis – it covers many of the inflammatory, systemic conditions that a rheumatologist may treat, including:
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Spondyloarthritis (psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, enteropathic arthritis, radiographic axial spondyloarthritis – ankylosing spondylitis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis)
- Connective tissue diseases like SLE / lupus, scleroderma, Sjogren’s Disease, Still’s Disease, Behet’s, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease
- Other inflammatory conditions like juvenile idiopathic arthritis, dermatomyositis, systemic vasculitis, gout, and giant cell arteritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Osteoarthritis
I created my own visual chart for my Rheum to THRIVE educational course, informed by Citation: Chart informed by Johns Hopkins Medicine “About Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases;” Creaky Joints Australia’s “Classifications of Arthritis,” CDC’s “Rheumatic Diseases and Pain” and StonyBrook Hospital’s “Rheumatic Disease List.” The chart does not include every rheumatic disease.
What is inflammation and what does autoimmune / inflammatory arthritis look like?
Inflammation is your immune system’s response to an outside threat, like a virus, bacteria or injury. Similar to stress, it’s something that’s good and protective in some contexts and also not helpful for your body in other contexts (particularly if it’s chronic!). The word comes from the latin root word “inflammare,” which means “to set on fire.” Symptoms of inflammation are redness, heat and swelling.
Inflammation involves your immune system sending out inflammatory proteins, white blood cells & other specialized cells to fight the threat and heal damaged tissue. In autoimmune inflammation, unfortunately the body mistakenly launches the immune response against your own healthy tissue. Your white blood cells make proteins that attach your own tissues instead of outside invaders. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, your immune cells attack the synovial fluid / synovial lining of your joints, as shown by the illustration I created below.
If this autoimmune response isn’t slowed down or stopped by medication and/or lifestyle factors, over time it can cause joint degradation and erosions.
Rheum to THRIVE: a framework for improving quality of life while living with rheumatic disease
After covering the basics of inflammation, arthritis and rheumatic disease in the first unit, I then explore how to improve your quality of life through the 6 core elements of the Rheum to THRIVE framework (trademark pending!):
- 🌟 Tools to prevent and reduce pain and fatigue
- 🌟 Habits: ways that nutrition, sleep and exercise can help
- 🌟 Relationships & social life: how to navigate
- 🌟 Inner world: how to manage stress and cope with emotional ups & downs
- 🌟 Values & Valued Activities: how to participate in what brings you joy & meaning
- 🌟 Executive Functions: how to manage the “job” of being a chronic illness patient
The self-paced course is available to purchase NOW, and there’s an optional 12 week support group program that is open for registration now through March 6th or whenever the groups are full. As of March 4th, there are 2 spots left in the Tuesday group and 6 left in the Wednesday group! I will run more support groups in the fall of 2023 but dates haven’t been set yet.
Questions? Drop them in the comments, and feel free to share these graphics if they’re helpful to you!
