photo of Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Robert H. Shmerling is the former clinical chief of the division of rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and is a current member of the corresponding faculty in medicine at Harvard Medical School. As a practicing rheumatologist for over 30 years, Dr. Shmerling engaged in a mix of patient care, teaching, and research. His research interests center on diagnostic studies in patients with musculoskeletal symptoms, and rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. He has published research regarding infectious arthritis, medical ethics, and diagnostic test performance in rheumatic disease. Having retired from patient care in 2019, Dr. Shmerling now works as a senior faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing.

Twitter: @RobShmerling

Posts by Robert H. Shmerling, MD

The problem with tanning (and the myth of the base tan) featured image

Cancer

The problem with tanning (and the myth of the base tan)

Can you virtually improve your knee pain? featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Can you virtually improve your knee pain?

Some medications don’t help back pain as much as we thought featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Some medications don’t help back pain as much as we thought

The data are in: Eat right, reduce your risk of diabetes featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

The data are in: Eat right, reduce your risk of diabetes

Do glucosamine and chondroitin supplements actually work for arthritis? featured image

Staying Healthy

Do glucosamine and chondroitin supplements actually work for arthritis?

Staying active at “that time of the month” featured image

Exercise & Fitness

Staying active at “that time of the month”

What exactly is cupping? featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

What exactly is cupping?

The truth behind standing desks featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

The truth behind standing desks

What Michelangelo’s hands (can and can’t) tell us about arthritis featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

What Michelangelo’s hands (can and can’t) tell us about arthritis

The truth about tequila and your bones featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

The truth about tequila and your bones

Taking your medications as prescribed: Smartphones can help featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Taking your medications as prescribed: Smartphones can help

How useful is the body mass index (BMI)? featured image

Staying Healthy

How useful is the body mass index (BMI)?

My fall last fall: Reaction time and getting older featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

My fall last fall: Reaction time and getting older

Vitamin D and physical function: Is more better? featured image

Exercise & Fitness

Vitamin D and physical function: Is more better?

Why men often die earlier than women featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Why men often die earlier than women

Kidney stones are on the rise featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Kidney stones are on the rise

Don't judge your mucus by its color featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Don't judge your mucus by its color

What happens when you faint? featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

What happens when you faint?

The gender gap in sports injuries featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

The gender gap in sports injuries

Can the weather really worsen arthritis pain? featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Can the weather really worsen arthritis pain?

The placebo effect: Amazing and real featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

The placebo effect: Amazing and real

Is it hard to decide about total knee replacement? Totally! featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Is it hard to decide about total knee replacement? Totally!

First, do no harm featured image

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

First, do no harm

Are There Benefits to a

Skin and Hair

Are There Benefits to a "Base" Tan?

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