Health Expert Lene Andersen shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/80106/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/80106/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/80106/index http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160991/ra-spokesperson Wed, 22 May 2013 13:50:35 -0400 Lene Andersen RA needs a spokesperson. Someone in the public eye. Someone who is respected and admired. We need someone to whom people will pay attention, someone who can in one moment teach the world about RA.   Last week, Angelina Jolie did that for breast cancer. She shared her story about being one in a fraction of women who have a faulty gene which greatly increases their risk of developing breast cancer. Her courage in coming forward didn't just... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160991/ra-spokesperson http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160877/interview-ross Wed, 15 May 2013 11:20:48 -0400 Lene Andersen -Joy Ross with Isabella and Georgianna   "I am happier without sight than when I could see."   Joy Ross is 36, lives just outside Portland, Oregon. She has been happily married for 12 years to her husband George and the mother of two beautiful daughters, Isabella (10) and Georgianna (7). Joy has had juvenile arthritis (JA) since she was three years old. As a child, her disease was primarily expressed through uveitis, an... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160877/interview-ross http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160770/physically-ra Wed, 08 May 2013 09:50:55 -0400 Lene Andersen Every now and again, I run into an enthusiastic health professional who opines that I should exercise. I try telling them that exercise makes me flare. "What about range of motion exercises, then?" they chirp optimistically.   And that's when I tell them that my life is a range of motion exercise.   Severe RA and Physical Activity When you have severe damage from RA as I do or are in a heavy flare, exercise is almost impossible.... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160770/physically-ra http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160667/celebrating Wed, 01 May 2013 12:06:25 -0400 Lene Andersen It's May. This means birds twittering, buds growing bigger every day and seriously contemplating not wearing socks. May is also something else very important for RAHealthCentral: Arthritis Awareness Month. We have exciting plans to share with you!   Kicking off the festivities is my interview with Dr. Patience White, VP of Public Health at The Arthritis Foundation. We had a very interesting conversation about the impact of different types... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160667/celebrating http://www.healthcentral.com/osteoarthritis/c/80106/160666/debunking-arthritis Wed, 01 May 2013 10:20:02 -0400 Lene Andersen Myth: Arthritis is an old person's disease. Fact: Two thirds of people who have arthritis are under the age of 65. Some of the most serious forms of arthritis affect teenagers or people in their 20s or 30s.   Myth: Arthritis is one disease. Fact: There are over 100 different types of arthritis.   Myth: There's nothing you can do about arthritis, you just have to live with it. Fact: Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent... http://www.healthcentral.com/osteoarthritis/c/80106/160666/debunking-arthritis http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160502/alternative Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:24:41 -0400 Lene Andersen You can control RA with diet. Natural medicine is better for you than conventional medication.   We've all heard these statements. Sometimes it's from a well-meaning acquaintance, sometimes it's on a television program. We want to believe them. Searching for something — anything — that can help is normal when you live with a chronic illness like RA that has no known cure or and can be difficult to control. When people use... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160502/alternative http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160368/functional-pain Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:29:46 -0400 Lene Andersen Have you ever felt that your doctor underestimated your pain? Have you ever felt that others didn't believe you have pain? Have you ever wished you could prove that you're in pain? An exciting new development has wide-ranging implications for the assessment and treatment of pain.   Studies of Pain Using fMRI Researchers are using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study what happens in the brain when people experience pain.... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160368/functional-pain http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160130/7-stress-living Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:09:53 -0400 Lene Andersen Stress. It's something that's part of everyone's life. The world moves faster these days, and everyone's burning the candle at both ends. Add a chronic illness like rheumatoid arthritis to the mix and the stress increases exponentially. In addition to juggling the components of your regular life, you now also worry about the RA’s impact on your future and your present. Then you worry about keeping track of doctors’ appointments,... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160130/7-stress-living http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160097/month-reduction Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:32:14 -0400 Lene Andersen Happy April 1st! Not only is this the first month of non-winter — very important to those of us who live in the northern part of the continent — but it's also the traditional day for pulling good-natured pranks. I like to think of April Fools' Day as a reminder that a brighter, sunnier time of year is starting, a sort of calendrical reminder to lighten up.   Not surprisingly, April is National Humor Month. Brad, our resident... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160097/month-reduction http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160008/facts-diabetes Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:14:41 -0400 Lene Andersen 1. Your body breaks food down into glucose. It then uses insulin produced by the pancreas to convert that glucose to energy. If your body doesn't produce enough insulin itself, you may develop diabetes. Almost 24 million people in the US live with diabetes, approximately 3 percent of the population.   2. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. It typically... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/80106/160008/facts-diabetes