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Chronic Knee Pain Linked to Depression
Chronic pain and depression are intimately linked, but Japanese researchers have found that up to 12% of knee osteoarthritis (OA) may develop depression and that such patients should be screened for depression over time.
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The RheumNow Week in Review - 23 March 2018
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the news, journals and major meetings. New announcements and approval from the FDA; novel associations between ANCA vasculitis and thyroid disease; flare rates after arthroplasty; and pregnancy outcomes for men and women.
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Tai Chi Eases Fibromyalgia Pain
The mind-body practice of tai chi was as effective or better than currently recommended aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia, a randomized controlled trial demonstrated.
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Risk of Paternal Exposure to Anti-Rheumatic Drugs
Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism features a review of the effects of paternal use of antirheumatic drugs on pregnancy, specifically addressing the effects of NSAIDs, steroids, DMARDs and biologics on spermatogenesis and the effect on pregnancy outcomes and offspring.
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mTOR Inhibition with Sirolimus Effective in Lupus
Lancet reports that 12 months of sirolimus treatment is associated with improvement in lupus disease activity presumeably by correction of pro-inflammatory T-cell activity.
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Shoe Inserts Disappoint with Plantar Heel Pain
A report from the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that commonly used drug store shoe inserts or customized orthotics are often ineffective in managing plantar heel pain.
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Novel Approach to Knee Osteoarthritis Pain
Geniculate artery embolization was found to dampen knee pain arising from osteoarthritis, according to interim study results presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology.
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Time to Rethink Gout as a Chronic Disease
The current issue of JAMA has a perspective article on Gout’s bad rap as dietary disease rather than the complex, chronic inflammatory disorder that is ineffectively treated in many.
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Using Synovial Tissue Biopsies to Develop Precision Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Researchers at Northwestern University have used ultrasound-guided tissue biopsy from the joints to analyze the genes of tissue macrophages with the hope that transcriptional profiling of synovial macrophages may be correlated with clinical parameters or drug responsiveness in rheumatoi
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MMWR: Arthritis Prevalence Increases and Varies Widely
MMWR reports that In 2015, the number of adults with arthritis continued to increase; with marked geographic variability in arthritis estimates with gaps in arthritis management.
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Repeat Malignancy Unlikely with Biologic Therapy
Research from the Danish biologics registry shows that the use of a biologic in patients with a history of a primary cancer does not increase the risk of a second malignant neoplasm (SMN) or mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
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The RheumNow Week in Review - 16 March 2018
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the news, journals and major meetings. Bigtime rheumatologic lessons with tales from intestinal crypts, the friendly skies & the hips of hockey players. Also the microbiome and lupus, benefits of ENT findings with GPA and rare risk of opportunistic infections with biologics.
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Opportunistic Infections in RA Rare with Biologics
The British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register for Rheumatoid Arthritis has studied nearly 20,000 patients and observed that there is no substantially different risk of opportunistic infections between different biologics.
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Limited Utility of Arthroscopic Meniscal Surgery
JAMA Surgery reports that arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) is still one of the most common surgeries performed, despite evidence from large trials (eg, FIDELITY study) showing that APM is no more effective than exercise and physical therapy, especially in adults over age 65 years.
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The RheumNow Week in Review - 9 March 2018
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, news and recent research published this past week on RheumNow.com. This week's report includes news on new regulatory changes, new indication for tofacitinib, the rise and deficits of opioids and the benefits of fish and bariatric surgery.
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FDA Panel Votes to Favor High Dose Xeljanz in Ulcerative Colitis
Yesterday a FDA advisory panel voted 15-0 in favor of approving Xeljanz (tofacitinib) 10 mg bid for patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.
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Biologics in Pregnancy: Are They Safe?
Exposure to biologic therapies among women with autoimmune diseases was not associated with increased risks of preterm delivery or having small for gestational age babies, a population-based Canadian study found.
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DSB – Safety Updates & Drug Shortages – March 2018
This edition of RheumNow's Drug Safey Bulletin includes drug safety news, FDA updates, FDA safety labeling changes and reported drug shortages.
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Opioid Overdoses Jump 30% in 2017
The CDC released new information yesterday showing that emergency department (ED) visits for opioid overdoses rose 30% in the US from July 2016 through September 2017; in addition, those with an overdose are more likely to a repeat overdose.
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Opioids No Better than NSAIDs at Chronic Pain
JAMA reports that the SPACE trial demonstrates patients with chronic back or arthritis pain respond equally to 12 months of either opioids or non-opioid (acetaminophen or NSAIDs) analgesics.
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