Episode 49: Your disease, my disease, Still‘s disease - what are doctors learning to expedite diagnosis?

Special Series: American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Scientific Meeting 2020, "Go with Us!" to Conferences program

 

This week join your patient co-hosts Tiffany Westrich-Robertson, Deb Constien, and Patrice Johnson as they take us backstage at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Conference. Tiffany and Deb attended two sessions at the conference on Stills Disease, and they brief Patrice and the rest of us on what they learned.  Regardless which "auto" disease you have, this conversation is important, as it provides an insider view of what is being taught to doctors to help them expedite diagnosis. 

One of the most important take-away messages from the ACR sessions is that doctors need to hear patient stories (or Case Studies) to improve their understanding of our diseases - especially when they are rare, like Still's, or in cases where presentation mimics other conditions. 

 

Join us as we continue attending conferences, like the ACR, in our AiArthritis Voices online community - "Go with Us!" to Conferences program. It's your turn to pull up a seat! Join Tiffany and all the other Voices 360 co-hosts to continue this conversation inside our new, coordinating AiArthritis Voices ONLINE COMMUNITY - where patients unite with others around the world to talk, learn, and connect. 

 

Living with Still's disease? If you are a patient living with Stills or the parent of a juvenile living with Stills, AiArthritis wants to hear from you! Visit our Stills Disease Awareness project at aiarthritis.org/mystills where you can submit your Stills Disease story.  There you will also find patient-reported Still's brochures and educational materials for download.

 

Patient Voices and All Other Stakeholders - Join our AiArthritis Voices Program and Connect to Opportunities to Have Your Voice Counted!

 

If you are a patient, a parent of a juvenile patient, or any other stakeholder (doctor, nurse, researcher, industry representative, or other health services person) - are you ready to join the conversation? It's your turn to pull up a seat. Join our new AiArthritis Voices program, where people living with AiArthritis diseases and other stakeholders who we need 'at the table' to solve problems that impact education, advocacy, and research sign up to have a voice in our initiatives. By signing up, you’ll get notified of opportunities to be more involved with this show - including submitting post-episode comments and gaining insider information on future show topics. Patients and all other stakeholders are encouraged to join so we can match you with opportunities to pull up a seat and TOGETHER - as equals - solve the problems of today and tomorrow.

JOIN TODAY!

 

AiArthritis Voices 360 is produced by the International Foundation for Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Arthritis. Visit us on the web at www.aiarthritis.org/talkshow. Find us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook (@ifAiArthritis) or email us (podcast@aiarthritis.org).

 

Show Notes: Episode 49 

 

00:53 - Tiffany welcomes listeners

01:42 - Tiffany is joined today by Deb and Patrice

03:02 - AiArthritis Voices Online Community members can “go with us” to conferences, including the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)

04:17 - If you are a person living with an AiArthritis disease, register at aiarthritisvoices.org to join the co-hosts behind the scenes at the ACR

06:36 - The Learn and Connect Section on aiarthritisvoices.org will give you access to a variety of topics covered at ACR

07:11 - Today’s episode will cover a topic from 2 sessions at ACR on Stills Disease

09:03 - Patients diagnosed after age 16 are said to have Adult Onset Stills Disease (AOSD), while patients diagnosed before age 16 receive a diagnosis of Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

09:45 - Stills Disease is the new umbrella term that encompasses AOSD and SJIA

12:39 - Stills Disease is rare and has historically been a difficult condition to diagnose

13:24 - Patients may be diagnosed with AOSD but recall having symptoms as a child, which complicated the diagnosis before the medical community adopted the umbrella terms of Stills Disease

14:20 - The pathology of the way the disease presents is largely the same regardless of the age of the patient

17:58 - Stills Disease is an autoinflammatory disease, which means there is no known trigger to the onset of the disease and results in more systemic symptoms

20:30 - Many Stills patients do not like being associated with the term “arthritis” because as many as 25% of them do not present with any arthritic activity

23:58 - For more information about Stills Disease, you can visit aiarthritis.org/mystills

25:02 - The ACR presenter recommended that patients and parents of juvenile patients keep a journal of symptoms to help doctors diagnose a problem effectively

29:13 - Most juvenile Stills Disease patients have onset before age 5

29:33 - Children that young do not have the communication skills to convey their symptoms, making journaling by the parents so critical due diagnosis

31:03 - Shared decision-making between doctors and patients is critical to satisfactory care

33:25 - Research has shown that active and uncontrolled autoinflammatory disease can act as a trigger for the adapted side of the immune system

35:00 - Stills Disease is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning it can only be applied to a patient if autoimmune diseases have been eliminated as possibilities

38:26 - If you are a person living with Stills Disease or the parent of a juvenile Stills patient, we want you to share your story at aiarthritis.org/mystills

43:34 - If you are a patient or the parent of a juvenile living with an AiArthritis disease, please join us at aiarthritisvoices.org to attend more conferences like this with us

44:31 - Tiffany thanks listeners and invites them to get involved in any of our projects by visiting us on the web at aiarthritis.org/talkshow or all social media platforms @IFAiArthritis

45:03 - Please consider supporting the show by donating at aiarthritis.org/talkshow