All News
January/February 2016 Top Social Media News
In February 2016, RheumNow published 82 tweets about impactful news, research and teaching points that impact the rheumatology community. These feeds had a reach (impressions) of 80,800 with, 76 mentions, and over 2700 visits to learn on RheumNow.com.
Read Article
Sclerostin Inhibition May Worsen Rheumatoid Arthritis
Sclerostin, an inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, negatively regulates osteoblast differentiation and has anti-anabolic effects on bone formation. Thus, inhibition of sclerostin is currently being studied as therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Read Article
TNF Inhibitors Increase Perioperative Infection Risk
The use of tumour necrosis factor α inhibitors (TNFis) at the time of major surgery has been a challenge for surgeons, rheumatologists and those wishing to develop evidence-based guidelines for this clinical scenario.
Read Article
IL-6 Inhibition Makes News
Several new interleukin-6 inhibitors made headlines this week. While none of the new IL-6 inhibitors are soon to be approved and available, these studies may redefine the role of other non-TNF biologics in the future.
Read ArticleNews Bytes
Most medical school faculty don't have time to observe third- and fourth-year medical students doing a complete medical exam? In When Medical Students Push Back, Westby Fisher, MD, FACC, offers his take on unnecessary testing and this particular issue.
Read Article
Minimal Disease Activity Falls Short in Psoriatic Arthritis
A small cohort study has evaluated the utility of the minimal disease activity (MDA) criteria that has been advocated for use in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) studies and clinical trials.
Read Article
New CDC Guidelines on Prescribing Opiates for Pain
The use of opioids has become increasingly problematic in the last few years. First, the rising rates of use and abuse, followed by greater restrictions and regulations that have curtailed use, and, finally, a resultant increase in illicit drug use (heroin) and opioid overdoses.
Read Article
Leflunomide and Weight Loss in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Weight change can have substantial effects on the outcomes of patients with arthritis. It has long been known that weight loss and low body mass index (BMI) are associated with poorer arthritis outcomes.
Read Article
Risk Factors for Pulmonary Hypertension in Lupus
Fidler and colleagues from Toronto have recently shown that pulmonary disease is common in lupus, as they found 56% of their patients with abnormal pulmonary assessments.
Read Article
ACR Invites Comment on Perioperative Management Guidelines
The ACR is inviting members and rheumatologists to comment on their proposal to develop recommendations for the "Perioperative Management of Rheumatic Disease Medications in Total Joint Arthroplasty of the Hip and Knee".
Read Article
Combined Dermatology-Rheumatology Clinics Benefits Patients
Healio reports that patients followed in a combined Dermatology and Rheumatology clinic in Canada revealed high patient satisfaction.
Read Article
Outpatient Surgery Safe for Total Hip
ORLANDO -- Total hip replacement can be performed safely and effectively on an outpatient basis for healthy patients, a researcher reported here.
Read Article
Biosimilars Reviewed by Expert Panel
As the number of biosimilars in development keeps on growing, reaching nearly 700 products to date, demand for data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and an understanding of these new biologics is peaking the interest of many.
Read Article
Tocilizumab Induces and Maintains Remission in Giant Cell Arteritis
Lancet has reported the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of tocilizumab in patients with new-onset giant cell arteritis (GCA).
Read Article
"Lost to Follow-up" Patients are Common in Rheumatology
The frequency of not returning (lost to follow-up) (LTFU) in patients with rheumatic diseases is high. Associated demographic factors included older age in RA, female gender in SLE and Ps/PsA, and younger age in Ps/PsA, with various reasons for being LTFU.
Read Article
Drugs that May Induce Raynaud's
A systematic review by Khouri examined the extent drugs are capable of inducing Raynaud's phenomenon (RP).
Read Article
Ixekizumab Superior to Etanercept in Psoriasis
The UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3 trials were presented at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting taking this week in Washington, D.C.
Read Article
Vitamin D has No Effect on Knee Osteoarthritis
Vitamin D supplementation for individuals with knee osteoarthritis and low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels did not reduce knee pain or slow cartilage loss, according to a study appearing in the March 8 issue of JAMA.
Novel Protein as a Potential Autoantigen in JIA
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is clearly not related to rheumatoid arthritis and until recently has no identifiabile autoantigen linked to JIA.
Read Article