Arthritis, Autoimmune & Allergy, LLC

02/13/2026

Friday the 13th…

The only scary thing around here
is running out of candy in the drawer 🍫😉

Happy Friday from Ashlyn!

02/12/2026

A little extra heart in the hallway ❤️
Happy Valentine’s Day!

02/11/2026

💛 72 Years of Marriage 💛

Last September, these two love birds celebrated 72 years together.

Seventy-two years of partnership.
Seventy-two years of commitment.
Seventy-two years of walking through life side by side.

We are honored to care for patients who remind us that strength isn’t just physical. It’s love, loyalty, resilience, and showing up for each other every single day.

Thank you for allowing us to share your special milestone. You inspire us. 💛

02/10/2026

“My ANA is positive, but I feel fine. What should I watch for?”

This is a question we hear all the time.

In this episode of Ask Ann & Jodie, we talk through:
• What a positive ANA really means
• Why many people feel completely fine
• What symptoms are worth paying attention to
• And when it’s okay to simply observe rather than worry

This isn’t about jumping to conclusions — it’s about understanding your body and knowing what matters.

🎧 Take a listen when you have a few minutes.

ANA Is High… But I Feel Fine! What Should I Watch For?

02/09/2026

The City of Vita: A Tale of Friendly Fire

by Yong H. Tsai, MD

Dr. Tsai often explains the immune system by asking patients to think of the body as a city designed to protect its people.

When everything works as it should, the immune system knows who belongs and who doesn’t. It responds to real threats, clears infections, and then stands down so healing can begin.

Autoimmune disease happens when that system makes a mistake.

In this article, Dr. Tsai uses a simple story — the City of Vita — to explain how immune cells communicate, how inflammation is triggered, and how “friendly fire” can occur when the body misidentifies its own tissues as an enemy. This kind of misidentification drives many autoimmune conditions, from thyroid disease to inflammatory arthritis.

Understanding this process helps explain why autoimmune diseases can become chronic, and why treatment often focuses on calming or rebalancing the immune response rather than strengthening it.

📘 This article is part of Arthritis and Autoimmune Disease.
Learn more at www.ArthritisAllergy.com

02/06/2026

✨ Happy Friday

Another week in the books. Thank you to our patients for trusting us with your care, and to our team for bringing consistency and heart to everything they do.

Wishing everyone a peaceful weekend ahead. 💙

02/05/2026

Your immune system follows a genetic instruction manual. When it’s well balanced, it fights real threats like bacteria and viruses. When genetics favor an overactive response, harmless things like pollen or food can trigger allergies instead.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4r4KH9J

02/05/2026

🎉 Early Birthday Celebrations for Aimee… with a Plot Twist 🎂

We celebrated Aimee’s birthday a few days early and Jodie nailed it by getting her favorite ice cream cake. ⭐

Except… after a long day, the cake took a little nap in the fridge instead of the freezer.

The result?
🥞 A pancake-style ice cream cake
🍰 Still delicious
😂 Definitely memorable

Proof that even when things melt around here, we still show up, laugh it off, and celebrate each other. Happy early birthday, Aimee — we wouldn’t have it any other way! 💙

02/04/2026

The Genetic Blueprint of Your Immune System

Think of your genes as the instruction manual for your immune system.

For many people, that manual creates a well-balanced system — one that can recognize real threats and respond without harming the body itself.

But for others, the instructions lead the immune system to overreact — mistaking harmless things like pollen or food for dangerous invaders. This is often where allergies begin.

In today’s article, Dr. Tsai explains:
• Why allergies are not something you “catch,” but a tendency you inherit
• How genes influence allergic reactions through IgE
• Why environment still matters, even when genetics play a role
• The balance between Th1 and Th2 immune responses

This piece was originally written as part of Dr. Tsai’s long-running medical column and is now part of his collected writings for patients who want to understand the why behind their immune system.

📖 Read more at www.ArthritisAllergy.com

02/03/2026

How these articles are meant to be used

Over the years, many patients asked,
“Do I need to read everything?”

The answer has always been no.

These books are designed so you can:
• Look up a specific condition
• Read one article at a time
• Come back later when another question comes up

Each article stands on its own — just like a clinic conversation.

Starting this week, we’ll share one article each week from this collection.
If a topic speaks to you, we hope it helps you better understand your health — and the questions you want to ask next.

Learn more at www.ArthritisAllergy.com

02/02/2026

Before blogs, before social media — there were stories.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Tsai wrote a bi-weekly medical column for the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

These were not abstract medical articles.
They were inspired by real patient conversations, real questions, and real moments from clinic.

Patients would often bring newspaper clippings to their appointments — folded, highlighted, sometimes worn — to talk more about what they had read.

Over time, those columns grew into something larger:
a way to explain complex rheumatology, allergy, and autoimmune conditions in language people could actually understand.

Those writings have now been carefully organized, updated, and collected into four books — not meant to be read cover-to-cover, but to be opened when a question arises.

Beginning next week, we’ll start sharing one article at a time, just as they were originally written:
as stories meant to inform, reassure, and help patients feel less alone.

Thank you for reading along.

Learn more at www.ArthritisAllergy.com

01/30/2026

Pseudo-gout can be just as painful as gout, causing sudden swelling and joint pain, often in the knees. Triggered by calcium crystal buildup, it commonly affects adults over 60.

Early diagnosis and treatment can help protect joint health: https://arthritisallergy.com/pseudo-gout-as-painful-as-the-real-thing/