Medicare D and Costly Biologics

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25% of Medicare beneficiaries with rheumatoid arthritis use high-cost biologics.  Yazdany and coworkers have analyzed a national cohort of beneficiaries and compared Medicare part D plans.

Prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis and activity limitations

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52.5 million US adults (22.7%) have arthritis with half of these claiming activity limitation because of arthritis and pain.  Many arthritis patients have comorbid conditions including heart disease (49%), diabetes (47%) and obesity (31%).

Amgen Halts Development of Brodalumab

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IL-17 inhibitors are being developed for treatment of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis. Broadalumab has been in phase II & III trials and been developed by a partnership between Amgen and Astra-Zeneca.

Sildenafil May Help Heal Scleroderma Ulcers

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A prospective study of sildenafil was conducted in 25 centers that included 83 patients and 192 digital ulcers at entry. The odds of healing ulcers was less, but not significant, for sildenafil.

RA Sarilumab Trials Meet Primary Endpoints

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Three phase III studies of sarilumab (SARIL-RA-TARGET, -EASY and -ASCERTAIN), a fully-human IL6 receptor antibody, have been reported and met primary end points in these pivotal clinical trials.

Inflammatory Fibromyalgia - Is it Possible?

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Fibromyalgia is a noninflammatory disorder. However, there are patients with prolonged morning stiffness, subjective joint swelling and many with modest-to-moderate elevations of acute-phase reactants.

Underuse & Overuse of DXA Screening

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A US Preventive Services Task Force recommends DEXA screening in women >65 yrs and only in women 65 yrs if there is a significan risk of fracture.  Amarnath and coworkers studied 50,995 women in primary care, aged 40-85 years, between 2006-2012.

Amgen & Abbvie Increase the Price of TNF Inhibitors

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The manufacturers of the 2 best selling TNF inhibitors, Enbrel and Humira, have announced a 9.9% price increase of May 1st. The current average price of Enbrel is $42,000 per annum.

The Real Prevalence of Sjogren's Syndrome

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The population prevalence of Sjogrens syndrome is  0.2%, with an incidence of 4 cases per 100,000 per year.  Sjogrens is 20 times more common in females than males.

Safety Reports & Updates – May 2015

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A Microneedle Pill as an Alternative to Injectable Drug

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Carl Schoellhammerhas just won the Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize for his invention - the microneedle pill.

Sjogrens Syndrome and Familial Risk

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A population based study from Taiwan shows that Sjogren's syndrome, to have a prevalence of 0.05%. The prevalence of the syndrome, however, was 10 times higher among women (0.10%) compared to men (0.01%). Overall, having an affected first-degree relative with Sjogren's syndrome carried

Men are Less Likely to be Screened for Osteoporosis

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Study by Dashkova et al finds males less likely to have their bone density checked, but suffered worse outcomes. "We were surprised at how big a difference we found between men and women regarding osteoporosis," study author Dr.

The Danger Model as an Alternative Cause of Autoimmunity

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The danger model was proposed by Matzinger as an alternative (or complement) to the traditional self-non-self (SNS) model of autoimmunity.

Adalimumab Gets FDA Orphan Drug Status for Use in Hidradenitis Suppurativa

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The FDA has granted adalimumab (Humira) orphan drug designation for the investigational treatment of moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) (Hurley Stage II and Hurley Stage III disease).

Pisetsky on Digital Infarcts and Rheumatoid Vasculitis

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"As scholars of disease have noted, RA today appears to be a less severe disease than it was when I started my career in the 1970s. Then, patients routinely ‘went up in smoke’ and rapidly became crippled, wasting away in a state we called ‘burnt out’.

Prevalence of gout

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Lancet article on the increasing prevalence of gout shows a rate of 2.5% in the UK that has increased 67% in the last 15 years.

Tanezumab in Osteoarthritis: Data Presented at OARSI

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Pooled analyses of the tanezumab (a nerve growth factor inhibitor) phase 3 studies was presented at the 2015 Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) World Congress.

Early DMARD Therapy Averts Cardiovascular Risk in RA

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A Finnish early RA register studied 14,878 incident RA patients from 2000-2008 and identified 1157 deaths.  Patients receiving DMARDs and MTX had lower mortality rates. The standardized moratility ratio for the entire cohort was reduced (0.57, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.62).

The National Prevalence of HLA-B27 in the U.S.

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HLA-B27 is found 6.1% of the US population, but with is seen in >90% patients with ankylosing spondylitis. HLA-B27 increases risk of spondylitis, uveitis and heart block. [Image credit: "HLA-B*2705" by Pdeitiker - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons]