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15% of Users Exceed Recommended OTC NSAID Dosing
New data shows that nearly 15 percent of adult ibuprofen users exceed the maximum recommended dose of ibuprofen or other NSAIDs in a one-week period.
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Higher Fracture Risk with PMR and GCA
Corticosteroid therapy is integral to the treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) and a new retrospective cohort study from the UK shows that PMR and GCA have similar, increased risk of fractures.
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The RheumNow Week in Review - 26 January 2018
The RheumNow Week in Review discusses the past week's news, journal articles and highlights from RheumNow.com. This week's report covers the price of biologics treatment in psoriasis, comorbidities in myositis, bronchiectasis with MPO antibodies, and the risk of secondary TNF failure with anti-drug antibodies.
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Obesity Outweighs Psoriasis in Comorbidity Risk with Children
Like their adult counterparts, psoriasis in children is an independent risk factor for comorbidity, but not as much as obesity.
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Anti-Drug Antibodies Partly Explain Secondary TNF Inhibitor Failures
An observational study of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthritis (SpA) experiencing secondary failure to TNF inhibitor (TNFi) therapy showed that (secondary) loss of efficacy to a TNFi was associated with anti-drug antibodies in less than 30% of patients.
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PRESERVE Study: HAQ, BMI and Age Predict Responses to Combo Therapy
Rheumatoid arthritis patients who were younger and who had lower body mass index, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) scores, and less disease activity at baseline were most likely to achieve remission after combination etanercept (Enbrel) and methotrexate induction therapy, a post hoc analysis of the PRESERVE trial found.
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Teriparatide Superior to Risedronate in the VERO Trial
Lancet reports that in a study teriparatide with risedronate, post-menopausal women with severe osteoporosis had significantly fewer new vertebral and clinical fractures on teriparatide comared to those receiving risedronate.
Read ArticleCimzia Limits Xray Progression in Axial Spondyloarthritis
The RAPID-axSpA study of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) patients showed that certolizumab pegol (CZP) treatment yielded rapid clinical improvement with limited radiographic progression and MRI inflammation at the sacroiliiac (SI) joint over 4 years.
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Apremilast’s Rapid Onset in Psoriatic Arthritis
Monotherapy with apremilast (Otezla) among patients with psoriatic arthritis who were biologic-naive was significantly more effective than placebo as early as week 2 in a phase IIIb study.
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Problems with Biologic Drug Storage
Is your patient’s refrigerator the problem with the inefficacy of biologic therapies? Studies show most patients don't store their biologics correctly, which may be a source of limited drug efficacy.
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Weight Loss Linked to RA Improvement
By retrospectively reviewing electronic health record (EHR) data, Kreps et al found that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who lost >5 kg of weight were three times more likely to demonstrate improvement in disease activity.
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Prevention of HBV Infection: How Are We Doing?
In 2016 the WHO set out to eliminate HBV infection as a public health threat by 2030. So far, we are far from this goal as vaccine implementation has been suboptimal in a number of important patient populations, including patients with rheumatologic diseases, as well as other immunocompromising diseases like HIV.
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IL-1 and IL-6 Inhibition Preferred in Systemic JIA
Since 2000, the German Biologics register (BiKeR) has prospectively enrolled children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis to assess outcomes with biologic therapies. A new report evaluates the efficacy and safety of etanercept (ETA), tocilizumab (TOC) and the interleukin-1 inhibitors (anakin
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Salt Drives Gut-Brain Connection via IL-17
A study from Nature Neuroscience shows that a high salt diet may mediate neurovascular disease by altering microbiome and the expansion of TH17 cells in the small intestine, thereby increasing plasma interleukin-17 (IL-17) and its subsequent effects on endothelium in the brain.
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Laparoscopic Gastric Sleeve Compared to Bypass Bariatric Surgery
JAMA reports the results of a 5 year Finnish study comparing the results of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy vs Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and shows that gastric bypass yielded greater weight loss at 5 years, the difference was not statistically significant, in patients with morbid obesity.
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New Rise in Hip Fractures Amongst Women
Reuters reports that the incidence of hip fractures in older women in the U.S. is rising after more than a decade of decline, according to a large new study of Medicare recipients.
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The RheumNow Week in Review - 12 January 2018
Dr. Jack Cush reviews a dozen highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Ibuprofen’s Anti-androgenic Effect May Result in Hypogonadism in Males
PNAS reports use of ibuprofen by males may result in antiandrogen effects that may contribute to adult male reproductive problems.
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40% of Arthritis Patients Fail to Receive Exercise Guidance
The latest issue of CDC’s MMWR reports that exercise counseling among arthritis patients increased from 52% to 61% (2002 to 2014); hence ~40% do not receive health care provider counseling, suggesting the need for provider education and training in exercise counseling, and improved electroni
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2018 Predictions for Rheumatology
MedPage Today Editors surveyed a few rheumatologists for their major news predictions in 2018. Read on for predictions regarding drug pricing, biosimilars, autoimmunity and checkpoint inhibitors, and thrombotic events and JAK inhibition.
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