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Trazodone High Risk of Falls and Fractures
The CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) has reported that trazadone use in the elderly may be associated with a risk of falls and major fractures.
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Steroid Injection Superior to Splinting in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Lancet has published a comparative effectiveness study examining the the value of night splints (conservative treatment) vs local injection for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Read ArticleAURA-LV Trial - Voclosporin Effective in Lupus Nephritis
The AURA-LV trial assessed voclosporin, a calcineurin inhibitor in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN) and found that low-dose voclosporin may be successfully added to mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids to controll active LN.
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The RheumNow Podcast – Heartbreak of Methotrexate (11.16.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week at RheumNow.com.
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Pre-Diabetes Associated Risk for Arthritis, Obesity and Physical Inactivity
The current MMWR reports that arthritis is seen in nearly one-third of adults with prediabetes and that more than half of such patients are obese and not engaged in regular physical activity.
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CIRT Trial - Methotrexate Fails at Cardiovascular Prevention
Methotrexate has been shown to reduce cardiovascular (CV) deaths in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Given that inflammation underlies the pathogenesis of atherothrombosis, Dr. Paul Ridker and colleagues studied the value of low dose methotrexate (MTX) in preventing cardiovascular events.
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Intensive Patient Education Does Not Improve Low Back Pain Care
JAMA reports on a randomized clinical trial of 202 adults with acute low back pain showing the addition of intensive patient education failed to improve pain outcomes.
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IgG4-Related Disease: First Draft Criteria Presented at ACR 2018
As Dr. John Stone, MD, MPH recounted in his presentation regarding the new ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for IgG4-Related Disease (IgG4-RD), only 15 years prior, IgG4-related disease was an unknown entity in the medical community.
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Low Short-Term Risks of NSAIDs in High Risk Patients
JAMA has published a large Canadian claims-based study showing that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use in patients with hypertension, heart failure, or chronic kidney disease was not associated with a significant safety risk - but this only looked at short-term outcomes (7-3
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Late Breaker: Can Tanezumab Be Revived for OA?
The monoclonal antibody tanezumab, which blocks nerve growth factor, showed significant benefits in pain and function among patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee or hip, and rates of severe adverse joint events such as rapidly progressive OA that had plagued earlier studies were low, a re
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Ixekizumab COAST-V Trial Wins in Axial Spondyloarthritis
Lancet has published the results of a study showing that ixekizumab (an IL-17A inhibitor) yielded significant clinical benefit and radiographic protection when given to NSAID treated patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA).
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Doubling Down on IL-17 In Psoriatic Arthritis
The monoclonal antibody bimekizumab, which neutralizes both interleukin (IL)-17A and 17F, was effective for both musculoskeletal and skin outcomes in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in a phase IIb study.
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Spotlight on Interstitial Lung Disease at ACR 2018
Here are a few important advances in our understanding of interstitial lung disease (ILD) from the ACR 2018 meeting last week.
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Anti-phospholipid Antibodies and Myocardial Infarction.
The Annals of Internal Medicine features a communique from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden demonstrating that elevated levels of antiphospholipid antibodies may be found in patients with myocardial infarction without any autoimmune co-morbidity, published in Annals of Internal M
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Treat-to-Target Strategy Cuts Mortality in Gout Patients
More intense treatment of gout with a treat-to-target strategy can reduce patients' risk for death, a Spanish researcher told a press conference Monday at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting here.
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RheumNow ACR Week in Review: ACR Wrap-Up (10.26.18)
This past week in Chicago gave us a plethora of new and eye-opening research, people, KOLs, exhibits, sessions, guidelines, posters and a never-ending supply of coffee served in small paper cups. ACR 2018 highlights for me included:
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Walking the Tightrope of Treat to Target in Psoriatic Arthritis
In the last few years, new studies have been published examining if early intervention and tight control (TC) of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) disease activity will have the same beneficial outcomes as it does for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
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Nurse Led Gout Management Highly Effective
UK researchers have shown that nurse-led gout management, using a treat-to-target urate-lowering strategy, is efficacious and cost-effective compared with usual physicain care. The results are published in the recent Lancet edition.
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It's the Genes, Not the Diet that Raises Urate
Researchers from New Zealand find that in contrast with genetic contributions, diet explains very little variation in serum urate levels in the general population.
Read ArticleNEJM Debate on Medical Marijuana for Chronic Pain
This week’s NEJM features a case discussion and debate over whether medical marijuana should be used to treat chronic pain. The debate focuses on a 31-year-old woman with long-standing complex regional pain syndrome in her leg and foot.
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