Association of Medication Access Difficulty and COVID-19-Related Distress With Disease Flares in Rheumatology Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: Due to concerns of infection and medication disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, rheumatology patients at the pandemic epicenter were at risk of distress and poor health outcomes. We sought to investigate medication disruptions and COVID-19-related distress in the Bronx, New York shortly after the peak of the pandemic and determine whether factors related to the pandemic were associated with flares, disease activity, and overall health.

Methods: In the month following the epidemic peak, we surveyed adult patients and parents of pediatric patients from rheumatology clinics in the Bronx regarding medication access, medication interruptions, COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 hospitalization, and COVID-19-related distress.

The road to equity for women in academic rheumatology.

Gender disparities persist in many aspects of working life for women in academic rheumatology. To move forward, we must find ways to address the gender gap in rheumatology with the goal of creating a workforce as diverse as the patient population it serves.

Diet and acne update: carbohydrates emerge as the main culprit.

The prevalence of adult acne in the US appears to be increasing over the last few decades. But what's behind the rise: is it nature or nurture? We are well aware that genetics can strongly influence a patient's risk of developing acne. However, significant changes in germline genetic variants are unlikely to have occurred over the last 20 years.