By Arefa Cassoobhoy, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Editor, VP Medical Affairs, Everyday Health Group

Hello everyone! My name is Dr. Arefa Cassoobhoy, and I’m honored to be the guest expert onEpisode 41: “Finding Trusted Arthritis Info”of theLive Yes! With Arthritis Podcast. I’m an internal medicine doctor and the chief medical editor at Everyday Health, a digital health information site. My No. 1 priority in this role is for people like you to be well-informed as you make decisions and take action along your health journey each and every day.

The key in providing quality health information is to create content that’s useful, easy to read and interesting — and never boring! At Everyday Health, I work with a talented team of journalists and medical experts to produce articles, videos and infographics about a range of health topics, including the various types of arthritis. The content is up-to-date and grounded in evidence-based medical information and real-world patient and clinician experiences.

Aside from theArthritis FoundationandEveryday Health我知道要找到一个值得信赖的健康网站是很困难的。但在线健康信息是有价值的，因为你可以熟悉医学术语，了解你的身体是如何正常工作的，了解自我护理和生活方式的改变，甚至可以帮助你选择治疗方案。

And because time with your doctor is usually limited, it’s necessary to be a savvy patient and come prepared with questions — and to leave ready to do some online homework to better understand what your doctor told you. Online health sites are a great source for this prep work and follow-up and, importantly, can also be a place to be inspired by other people’s stories and experiences.

During this episode, I share with Rebecca and Julie how to evaluate a health article for credibility and where to go to find the latest information about your type of arthritis. Some quick tips:

• 仔细看这一页。文章上是否有日期可以让你看到信息是否最新?
• Is it written and reviewed by qualified experts, and do they list their sources to show they’ve done their research?

Another key tip: If something sounds like an advertisement, it probably is. You may need to dig deeper by going to theAboutpage of a website to find out if they are committed to educating the public about a health issue — or do they seem to be raising awareness about a product to sell? If you’re in doubt after a quick check, disregard the information and leave the site. It should be easy to tell that medical information is solid on your go-to trusty sites.

We also talk about how to find the latest research information about arthritis. Your doctor is the best place to start in terms of asking what online sources may be most relevant for you. Then when you dive in, there are some cool tricks on Google to focus your search and get to relevant scientific articles fast. For those of you who need to understand a specific research study, I also share tips on how to navigate and understand the various sections of a study. And depending on what kind of information you’re looking for, your best option could be to read expert-written “review” articles that doctors consult for information and practice guidelines on how to take care of a patient with a specific condition.

The most important thing to remember is that you don’t have to become a medical expert to take care of your health. With a few helpful tips, you can harness online sources to learn about your condition, which can lead to more productive and satisfying conversations with your health care providers and inspire and enable you to live a healthier life on your terms.

Take action today.Tune in to the podcast now.

詹娜·贝克尔从不请假，她也不会有别的选择。她每天练习、训练和打垒球或排球。没有人会想到她几乎一生都在与幼年特发性关节炎作斗争。他们只知道她的快攻弧线球和重手发球。

今天，詹娜的主要职位是投手。她也打一垒和三垒，并且自信能打教练需要的任何位置。她说:“手腕和手指上都有JIA的球员成为投手并不常见，但我想证明我可以做到。”

Jenna was diagnosed at the age of 18 months. She had a swollen finger and was developing a limp.

“I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have JIA,” says Jenna, who is now 15. “It affected my ankles, wrists and fingers. It hurt to get out of bed, and sometimes my ankles were so swollen I didn’t want to wear shoes.”

Jenna was prescribed a biologic medication and responded well enough to remain active. She had a slight skip to her run and some kids would shy away from wanting to hold her hand, but she was determined that JIA wouldn’t hold her back.

It didn’t. When she was 7, her father gave her a glove and ball and quickly discovered she had an affinity for throwing and catching. He signed her up for softball. She fell in love with it the minute she stepped on the field.

A careful balance of therapeutics, a healthy diet and regular physical activity helped Jenna to get stronger and manage the pain as she grew. Her parents kept sugary and processed foods and drinks away from her, and they iced her joints after physical activity.

这么多年来，她的家人一直担心她服用生物制剂，但他们看到了效果。

“我记得我坐飞机去了UCLA医疗中心。我们并不是在寻找关于我的情况的第二种意见，而是应该如何治疗。”詹娜说。“当时我还很小，但有一件事我永远不会忘记，那就是医生告诉我父母的话。她说，“如果你什么都不做，这个女孩长大后会有身体残疾，最后可能要坐轮椅。如果你尝试(生物疗法)，她可能会有不同的结果。’”

在注射了第一针之后，詹娜的炎症几乎立即开始减轻。多年来，她一直服用这种药物，每周在家注射一次。由于药物削弱了詹娜的免疫系统，每当家人或同学生病时，詹娜就会生病。但随着她继续变得更强壮，并坚持自己的养生法，她看到了改善。以前她每天都痛苦，现在她只经历了几天。

Her shots were eventually reduced from weekly to every other week to once a month and, finally, to none. All that remained was chronic inflammation and a painful trigger finger in her left hand where the pain was constant, made worse every time she played sports.

詹娜说:“因为贾娜的病，没有医生愿意做手术。”“他们给我注射了可的松，但没用。一个告诉我，我不需要做手术;我所要做的就是放弃垒球，疼痛就会消失。那不是一个选择。”

最终，她的家人找到了一位很棒的手部外科医生。手术是有风险的，但詹娜不愿意在没有尝试手术之前就放弃自己的梦想。一旦痊愈，这是她人生中第一次，玩游戏不疼了。

“Kids with JIA have to work twice as hard as everyone else to remain competitive,” said Jenna. “We have to work just as hard when nobody is watching. There are days when it’s over 110 degrees here but I’m outside hitting and pitching because it makes me stronger.”

Her JIA has been in a clinical remission for five years now, and Jenna does not have chronic pain any longer. She has the occasional day when she feels stiffness and discomfort, but she does stretching exercises to keep her joints limber.

“When my dream of playing college softball comes true, I won’t just be playing for me, but for all of the kids with JIA,” said Jenna. “Arthritis may be a part of us, but it does not define us. Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.”

—BRYAN D. VARGO

Daughter of Chil Wellness founder has made major progress, thanks to her dad’s natural solutions.

来自加州马里布的阿斯彭·德雷特在15个月大的时候就开始一瘸一拐地从午睡中醒来。几个月后，她的腿出现了刺痛，使她无法站立。她很快被诊断为少年关节炎(JA)，并服用多种药物来控制炎症。Continue readingAspen Finds Her Peace and Place Living With JA→

By Julie Eller, Live Yes! With Arthritis Podcast Co-Host

An arthritis diagnosis comes with so many questions. How can I manage my pain? What should I do about my morning stiffness? What treatments will work best for a patient like me? Sometimes it is hard to know if you’ve asked all the right questions of your doctor.

One question that many people don’t realize they need to ask is, “What other diseases do I have to worry about now that I’m living with arthritis?”

Unfortunately, when you live with arthritis you are at a greater risk of developing other conditions as well. Whether they are related to the type of arthritis you have and how it affects you, side effects from treatment, or the mental weight of living with chronic pain, other conditions can arise for people with arthritis.In the latest episode of the Live Yes! With Arthritis Podcast在美国，丽贝卡和我与阿曼达·纳尔逊(Amanda Nelson)博士进行了交谈，她是一名风湿病学家，在关节炎研究方面有着丰富的经验。During the episode we discuss some of the conditions that commonly go with different types of arthritis and how they are related.

This episode served as a helpful framing tool for Rebecca and me. As patients, hosts of the show and employees at the Arthritis Foundation, sometimes it feels like we eat, sleep and breathe arthritis. But in talking with Dr. Nelson, we heard the gentle reminder that arthritis is a whole-body disease, even if the word simply means inflammation of the joints. And as such, arthritis can affect other parts of our bodies, leading to additional diseases.

Dr. Nelson shared that people with autoimmune forms of arthritis have systemic inflammation that can affect many different organ systems and increase the risk for conditions like cardiovascular disease. She pointed out that rheumatoid arthritis carries the same level of cardiovascular risk as diabetes due to systemic inflammation.

But arthritis-related conditions are not limited to folks who live with an autoimmune form of the disease. For people living with osteoarthritis, pain often makes physical activity and even sleeping through the night more difficult. This can lead to related problems like weight gain or sleep disorders. And importantly, the cascading impacts of arthritis can add up to a heavy mental health burden.

This episode reminded me that my arthritis symptoms do not live in isolation from my total health, and that when I am experiencing heightened anxiety and feelings of depression, they are linked to my chronic pain. It was also helpful to think about the conditions that I am at a greater risk of developing simply by virtue of having an autoimmune disease. While there are so many things that I can’t control with my arthritis, knowing that my risk of heart disease is higher than average does motivate me to take control of other areas of my life, especially physical activity and diet.

Sometimes the hardest part of arthritis is figuring out what questions we should ask of our health care providers. This episode is special to me because it encourages listeners to learn more about how arthritis can impact their whole body and the steps they can take to mitigate their risk of developing other conditions related to their arthritis.今天听!