Half of US Women are Overweight during Pregnancy

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Obesity is associated with adverse outcomes in pregnancy, especially with higher rates of infertility and miscarriage. 

Ustekinumab Efficacy in Psoriatic Arthritis: 2 Year SUMMIT Trial Results

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615 adults with active PsA were randomized to ustekinumab (45mg group or 90mg group) or placebo with crossover at 24 weeks.

Ustekinumab Bests TNF Inhibitors for Biologic Survival in Psoriasis

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Using drug survival as a global measure of a drug's effectiveness, safety and tolerability, UK investigators used a national pharmacovigilance cohort (British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register) to compare survival rates of the first biologic used in 3,523 biologic-naiv

FUTURE 2 Trial Shows Secukinumab to be Effective in Psoriatic Arthritis

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Lancet today published the results of the phase 3, prospecitive, multinational, double-blind, randomized controlled trial of secukinumab (an anti-IL-17A monoclonal antibody) in active psoriatic arthritis.

ACP Backs Supreme Court Decision on Obamacare

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ACP has endorsed the Supreme Court ruling that the premium subsidies created by the Affordable Care Act, essential to making coverage affordable to millions, will continue to be available in states where the federal government manages their health insurance marketplaces.

Adherence to ETN/MTX is Greater Than Triple DMARD Therapy

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Rheumatoid management hinges on choosing your best therapies first.

Chikungunya Infection in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

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High Lupus Flare and Complication Rates in Lupus Pregnancy

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An incident cohort study from Denmark showed that 84 SLE pregnancies resulted in 62 live births.  Lupus disease activity strongly influenced maternal complications seen in half and fetal complications were observed in one-third of cases.

Psoriatic Arthritis Occurs in 10-15% of Psoriasis Patients

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Estimates on the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis among psoriasis patients has varied widely, ranging from 5-40%.  A systematic review of the literature shows that prevalence of undiagnosed PsA was 15.5% when all studies were considered and 10.1% when only epidemiological studies were consi

Increasing Incidence of Osteomyelitis

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A Mayo Clinic analysis of trends in osteomyelitis disclosed 760 new cases between 1969 and 2009 in Olmstead county. Rates increased from 11.4 cases per 100,000 person-years for the period from 1969 to 1979 to 24.4 per 100,000 person-years in the period from 2000 to 2009.

Allopurinol Reduces Mortality in Gout

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CVD risk is significantly augmented in gout. Choi and coworkers studied this issue using a UK general population database using an incident user cohort study with propensity score matching.

Difficulties Diagnosing Interstitial Lung Disease in Scleroderma

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The diagnosis of chronic lung disease in patients with systemic sclerosis may be difficult because of atypical symptoms, variable evolution and limitations of current classification criteria for a definite diagnosis. Nevertheless, diagnosis is necessary as patients with SSc-ILD have a p

Comorbidities Increasing in Arthritis Patients

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A CDC report shows comorbid conditions exist in 73.1% of all arthritis patients. Based on NHIS survey data, the number of patients with 2 or more comorbid conditions has increased from 21.8% in 2001 to 25.5% in 2012.  Most affected were older adults (≥65 years), women, wh

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.

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.

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’.

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).

Lancet: Increase Serious Infection Risk with Biologics

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Patient perspectives in the management of psoriasis and PsA

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A psoriasis population survey finds psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis in 1.4%-3.3% of North American and European households.  Many (27-53%) rated their disease as “severe”.