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Hand Pain Related to Obesity and Inflammatory Markers
Arthritis & Rheumatology has published the results of the Nor-Hand study, showing that pain hand osteoarthritis (OA) was related to a higher body mass index (BMI) and also to inflammatory adipokines, such as leptin.
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ACR Updates Clinical Guidance for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Associated With COVID
A Task Force from the ACR has provided an updated (version 3) guidance for the diagnosis and management of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a COVID related condition characterized by fever, inflammation, and multiorgan dysfunction.
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Why Would Hand OA Be Less Severe in Black People?
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand was less severe according to objective and pain-related markers in Black patients versus those of other racial/ethnic groups after adjustment for known risk factors, researchers found.
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Vitamin D and the Risk of Autoimmune Diseases
The results of the VITAL study (presented at ACR 2021) are now published by BMJ, showing that vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids reduce the overall risk of autoimmune disease (AID) in a population based intervention trial.
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Methotrexate Side Effects
Data came from the UK Rheumatoid Arthritis Medication Study (RAMS), a prospective cohort of early RA patients starting methotrexate (MTX) shows that in the first year, adverse events (AE) were common, but not serious.
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An Ounce of Prevention (2.4.2022)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com. He discusses the GI side effects of IL-17 inhibitors, downstream revenues from rheumatology care and dietary prevention of gout.
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ACR/EULAR 2022 Classification Criteria for Microscopic Polyangiitis
The 2022 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) have been developed, validated and are now ready for use in clinical research.
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Risk vs. Benefit Lessons from the ORAL Surveillance Study
In an editorial in the current edition of the NEJM, Dr. Jasvinder Singh comments on the Oral Surveillance trial (Ytterberg et al.), a 4-year randomized, open-label, noninferiority, postauthorization, safety end-point trial, in high risk active rheumatoid arthritis patients over age 50 years.
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MMWR: Booster Vaccine Efficacy in Immunosuppressed Patients
For adults aged ≥18 years who received 2 doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, a third dose increased vaccine effectiveness (prevention of hospitalization) among adults without (82% to 97%) and with immunocompromising conditions (69% to 88%), with near similar efficacy.
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Physical Therapy is More Cost-Effective than Intraarticular Steroids in Knee OA
A randomized trial compared the incremental cost-effectiveness of physical therapy and intra-articular glucocorticoid (IA GC) injection as initial treatment for knee osteoarthritis showed that physical therapy gained more quality-adjusted life-years compared with those receiving glucocortico
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How Preventable Is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Women who made at least four healthy lifestyle choices saw their risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis reduced significantly, an analysis of Nurses' Health Study (NHS) data found.
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Herpes Zoster Vaccination in Immunocompromised Adults
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recently recommended and approved two doses of the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV, AKA Shingrix) for prevention of herpes zoster and complications in immunodeficient or immunosuppressed adults aged ≥19 years.
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Referral Rules for At-Risk Inflammatory Arthritis
A prospective primary care study of patients at-risk for inflammatory arthritis (IA) showed that progression to IA was most likely in those with high anti-CCP antibody titers levels and involvement of the hands/feet/ IA.
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Does T2T Lead to Fewer Gout Flares?
Lancet Rheumatology reports that a treat-to-target (T2T) goal of average serum urate less than 6 mg/dL is associated with an absence of gout flares and a reduction in the number of flares in the next 12 months.
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Fracture Risk with Osteoporosis Drug Holidays
While bisphosphonate drug holidays are recommended, there are few comparative studies.
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The Overpricing of Drugs (1.14.2022)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com. This week we discuss amputations, a $57 billion RA market, an FDA approved drug for Cat arthritis and drug that works in Sjogren's.
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Hold Myophenolate or Not with COVID-19 Vaccination?
While the American College of Rheumatology recommends holding mycophenolate (MMF) in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases patients (RMD) receiving COVID-19 vaccines, there is limited data on such an approach. A recent cohort study of RMD patients showed that holding MMF yielded higher antibody responses than continuing MMF.
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COVAX Registry: Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines in Rheum Patients
The EULAR Coronavirus Vaccine (COVAX) physician-reported registry has shown that the use of COVID-19 vaccines in people with inflammatory/autoimmune rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (I-RMD) is effective, safe, and well tolerated.
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KEEPSaKe-1 Trial in Psoriatic Arthritis - IL-23 Inhibition is Effective
The results of the KEEPSaKE-1 study in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has been published and shows that risankizumab (RIZ), an IL-23 inhibitor, showed significant clinical improvements when given to active PsA patients who failed or were intolerant to ≥1 csDMARD.
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What Can JIA Patients Expect 18 Years In?
Follow-up in a Scandinavian cohort of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients that began in 1997-2000 revealed a number of surprises, a new study indicated.
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