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ACR's State-by-State Report Cards for Rheumatic Disease
New report examines access, affordability, and activity and lifestyle factors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, evaluating how easy it is to live with a rheumatic disease in your state. No state scored an "A" or "F", and only two states improved their 2018 grades.
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CD19 CAR T Cell Therapy in SLE (9.16.2022)
The big news this week: the approval of deucravacitinib (a new class of drug?) for psoriasis; the 2022 ACR guidance on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis; a national poll of older adults over the age of 50 who claimed self-reported or doctor-diagnosed arthritis; and much more. Let's review these and other news, journal reports and announcements from this past week.
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IBD Ups Risk of Psoriatic Disease
Findings of a new study suggest a causal effect between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and psoriasis (PSO) as well as psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but not vice versa.
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Does Methotrexate Use Lead to Melanoma?
A systematic review suggests that low-dose methotrexate (MTX) use is associated with an increased melanoma risk, but the absolute risk increase could be considered negligible.
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2022 New ACR Guidance on Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis (GIOP)
The ACR has updated this guideline and includes recommendations on abaloparatide (PTHrP) and romosozumab, which are newly available since the ACR’s 2017 GIOP guideline.
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70% of Older Adults Report Joint Pain
Dr. Beth Wallace and colleagues at the University of Michigan surveyed a national sample of older adults (50–80 yrs) and found that 70% currently report experiencing joint pain and 60% reported being told by a health care professional that they have arthritis.
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Disease Activity Drives Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in RA
Two large RA registries have shown that pregnancy outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is more related to RA disease activity rather than treatments use to control RA.
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Gout Comes With Increased Heart Risk
Incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was significantly higher among gout patients than in the general Swedish population, researchers found, even when data were adjusted for common comorbidities.
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Doctor Appointment Wait TImes are Up
Forbes reports that a recent Merritt Hawkins survey shows that patients are waiting an average of 26 days for a scheduled appointment with a doctor.
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First In Class, TYK2 Inhibitor FDA Approved for Psoriasis
Deucravacitinib (Sotyktu), a first-in-class, oral, selective, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, is the only approved TYK2 inhibitor worldwide and the first innovation in oral treatment for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in nearly 10 years.
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COVID Outcomes in Dermatomyositis
A retrospective study of dermatomyositis (DM) patients with COVID-19, shows that DM patients without comorbidities fair well (with regard to mortality and hospitalisation).
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Does Fibromyalgia Need B12? (9.9.2022)
Can we predict the bad outcomes? Like when ITP evolves into SLE; or when psoriasis will develop arthritis; or if Sjogren's will develop lymphoma? Let's dive in and review these journal reports and this past week's news from RheumNow.com.
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ACR Questions Medicare Proposed Cuts to Critical Services Reimbursement by Cognitive Specialists
In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to the CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program proposed rule, the American College of Rheumatology applauded proposals that would provide more flexibility and improve care coordination, while raising concerns about proposed cuts to reimbursement for critical services provided by rheumatologists and other cognitive specialists.
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Does Dendritic Cell Targeted Therapy Work in SLE?
A phase 2 trial using litifilimab, a humanized monoclonal antibody binding to blood dendritic cell antigen 2 (BDCA2), demonstrated clinical efficacy in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
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Pirfenidone Potential in RA-Related Lung Disease
Rheumatoid arthritis patients with existing interstitial lung disease (ILD) had less decline in lung function when receiving the antifibrotic agent pirfenidone (Esbriet) relative to placebo in a randomized trial, researchers reported here and in a simultaneous journal publication.
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Global Trends Informing the Future of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Finkh et al report on the prevalence and interesting trends in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including its higher prevalence in industrialized countries and declining disease severity over time.
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Study Reassures on HCQ Heart Risks in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Among U.S. veterans receiving hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as long-term therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, development of long QT syndrome was rare and not markedly more common compared with similar patients treated with other agents, researchers said.
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Voclosporin Efficacy and Safety in Lupus Nephritis
An integrated analysis of two pivotal trials of voclosporin, a calcineurin inhibitor, in lupus nephritis patients saw significant improvement in complete renal responses (CRR) at one year.
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Goofy But True
Dr. Jack Cush discusses declining survival rates in the USA, FDA approvals of new COVID subvariant boosters and other odd and possibly true new research reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Hypertension Associated with RA and OA
While hypertension and arthritis are very common disorders, the association between them is unclear. Analysis of NHANES data suggests that both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) are strongly associated with hypertension (HTN).
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