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Impairment and disability: Renoir's adaptive coping strategies against rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was one of the most influential painters in art history, but few people know that he suffered from debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. Despite his arthritis, he was able to maintain an incredible level of precision and efficiency with his painting. More importantly, he remained positive and did not let his condition affect his passion for painting or take away from the beauty that he saw in the world around him. Renoir applied a wide variety of coping mechanisms and used his ingenuity to come up with different ways to continue painting even as his arthritis weakened him. Renoir's long battle with rheumatoid arthritis serves as an inspiration to patients who experience the pain and limited mobility associated with this disease, encouraging them to persevere and to develop coping mechanisms that prevent the effects of their impairment from disabling them.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported, in part, by grants from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01 AR062066) and from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (2R01 AR047328-06) and a Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24 AR053120) (to Dr. Kevin C. Chung).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Plastic Surgery, The University of Michigan Health System, 2130 Taubman Center, SPC 5340, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5340, USA

    Evan Kowalski

  2. Section of Plastic Surgery, The University of Michigan Medical School, 2130 Taubman Center, SPC 5340, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5340, USA

    Kevin C. Chung

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  1. Evan Kowalski
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  2. Kevin C. Chung
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Correspondence to Kevin C. Chung.

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Kowalski, E., Chung, K.C. Impairment and disability: Renoir's adaptive coping strategies against rheumatoid arthritis. HAND 7, 357–363 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11552-012-9467-4

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