A Low Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease with IL-17 Inhibition

Save

Colitis onset or worsening inflammatory bowel disease has been reported with either of the new IL-17 inhibitors, ixekizumab (IXE) and secukinumab (SEC). Large database studies show these to be rare.

CHMP Recommend Baricitinib for Approval in Europe

Save

Eli Lilly and Company announced last friday that the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion, recommending the approval of baricitinib for the treatment of adults with moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (R

A Link Between Periodontal Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Save

Research from Johns Hopkins reports that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with periodontitis exhibited patterns of autoantigen hypercitrullination similar to that seen in RA. Results published in Science Translational Medicine showed that Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans can produce hypercitrullination of patient neutrophils, indicating its possible role in triggering RA. (Citation source: http://buff.ly/2hZTBG8)

BEST-D Trial: Higher Doses of Vitamin D may be Required for Optimal Osteoporosis Prevention

Save

Osteoporosis is a major public health problems and is associated with a high burden of fractures and subsequent increased mortality.

Risk of GI Perforations on Biologics

Save

Gastrointestinal perforation is a rare but serious complication that RA patients may be at particular risk for.

Osteoporosis 2016 Year in Review - No new drug approvals, and a crisis in care

Save

No new osteoporosis drugs hit the market this year, but two are progressing through the development pipeline and are showing promise.

Female Physicians are Better in Death, Hospital Readmission Stats

Save

Do hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries treated by female internists have lower rates of 30-day mortality and hospital readmission than those patients treated by men? A new study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that they do.

RheumNow Week in Review – 16 December 2016

Save

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from this week on RheumNow.com

EULAR 2016 Recommendations on Early Arthritis

Save

Combe and leading European rheumatologist have published an update to the 2007 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations for management of early arthritis.

Lupus May Be at Increased Risk for Dementia

Save

Neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may occur in up to half of patients in their lifetime.

However, dementia is often not reported or studied in cohorts with neurologic disease in lupus. 

Supreme Court Declines Biosimilar Patent Dispute

Save

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case over whether companies that make biosimilar drugs must wait six months after federal approval before they bring them to the market.

Random Drug Levels and Anti-Drug Antibodies Predict Rheumatoid Outcomes

Save

Researchers from Manchester, UK have reported the results of their BRAGGSS study showing that certolizumab (CZP) random drug levels and anti-drug antibody (ADAbs) levels can predict optimal outcomes in CZP treated rheumatoid arthritis patients. 

CDC Report on Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco

Save

Combustible and smokeless tobacco use causes adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and multiple types of cancer. Cigarette consumption in the United States has declined overall since the 1960s, but consumption of other tobacco products has not.

Rituximab May Reduce Mortality Risk in Rheumatoid Lung Disease

Save

While it is known that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with interstitial lung involvement is associated with severe seropositive disease and is associated with an increased mortality.

RheumNow Week in Review – 9 December 2016

Save

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from this week on RheumNow.com.

CanVasc Recommendations for ANCA-Associated Vasculitis

Save

ANCA associated vasculitis (AAV) has undergone considerable study and advances in the last few years.

Herpes Zoster and GCA – What’s the Deal?

Save

In November I reported on an abstract presented at ACR by Muratore, et al. who looked for evidence of VZV infection in temporal artery biopsies of GCA patients and found none.

Nonsignificant CV Risk with Actemra vs Enbrel

Save

WASHINGTON -- Rheumatoid arthritis is a recognized risk factor for heart attacks and stroke, but a study comparing two leading biologics found only a non-significant increase in relative risk for patients treated with toclizimab (Actemra) vs etanercept (Enbrel), researchers reported here.

Physicians Still Over-Prescribe Antibiotics, Narcotics and Opioids

Save

A study by the American College of Physicians (ACP) found that physicians continue to prescribe treatments that offer little benefit to patients, despite the advice of clinical guidelines.

Key Lessons from the TNF Inhibitor Head-to-Head EXXELERATE Study

Save

The EXXELERATE study is featured prominently in Lancet this week. In some ways, this represents a landmark negative trial that rheumatologists should review and be aware of.