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Alcohol and Methotrexate - What Do You Advise?
What are your rules on methotrexate and alcohol use? How about casual, social or occasional alcohol use? If one alcoholic beverage is ok, what about 2, 3 or six while taking MTX?
Read ArticleSurviving Infection on DMARDs or Biologics
Sepsis is a dangerous and potentially fatal consequence of serious infections (SIE), particularly in susceptible populations such as the elderly and immunosuppressed. Published evidence points toward the potential role of TNF in development of sepsis.
Read ArticleHypertension Increased in Psoriasis Treated with NSAIDs, Cyclosporine or Steroids
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patient have significantly higher rates of comorbidity, including hypertension (HTN). This population-based, nested case–control study analyzed an inception psoriasis cohort from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database between 2000–2010.
Read ArticleAre We Using Methotrexate Appropriately?
Methotrexate is a mainstay drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Yet, we may not be using it long enough or optimizing its use.
Read ArticleConcern Still Lingers for Silicone Breast Implants
What do you tell your patients who are considering augmentation mammoplasty? Or who question the safety of prior implants?
Read ArticleAnifrolumab Improves Lupus Outcomes
Furie and coworkers presented the results of a 52-week phase II trial of anifrolumab (ANIFR), a type I interfernon (IFN) receptor antagonist in patients with lupus (SLE).
Read ArticleMycophenolate in Scleroderma Lung Disease
Clements et al presented the results of their Scleroderma Lung Study II wherein PSS patients with interstitial lung disease were randomized to receive either 3 grams daily of mycopheonolate or 2mg/kg/day of cyclophosphamide.
Read ArticleImproving Cardiovascular Trends in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Myasoedova and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic have reported their new data that demonstrates improving cardiovascular (CV) mortality rates in current RA patients treated with modern drugs.
Read Article2015 ACR RA Guidelines Released– Finally!
ACR 2015 RA treatment guidelines were published yesterday, nearly a year after they were preliminarily presented at the 2014 ACR meeting in Boston. After a year of review and revision these have been posted.
Read ArticleFDA Panel Advises Stronger Warnings on Fluoroquinolones
An FDA Advisory Panel reviewed the safety of fluoroquinolones and their use to treat sinus infections, urinary-tract infections and bronchitis.
Read ArticleBiosimilars and the FDA
Biosimilars are in the news and will be prominently on parade at next week's ACR meeting in San Francisco. Biosimilars are similar to, but not the same as, innovator biologics.
Read ArticleIncreasing Risk of Septic Arthritis with Age
A retrospective population-based study from New Zealand examined the epidemiology, clinical features, and microbiology of adult native joint septic arthritis.
Read ArticleMore Adverse Events with Off-Label Drug Use
Off-label use of prescription drugs was associated with adverse drug events in a study of patients in Canada, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Repeat Skin Cancer Risk with Methotrexate and Biologics
Using Medicare claims data, a retrospective cohort study analyzed the risk of a second non-melanomatous skin cancer (NMSC) in 9460 individuals (6841 with RA and 2788 with IBD).
Read ArticleDSB: Drug Shortages - October 2015
Each month, RheumNow reviews compiled listings of drug shortages germane to the practive of rheumatology using several sources. If you have suggestions or information about specific drug shortages or drug safety issues please email us at info@rheumnow.
Read ArticleSleep Apnea Increases Risk of Gout
Zhang and colleagues from Boston analyzed patients with physician diagnosed sleep apnea from The Health Improvement Network in the UK and compared these with 5 controls (age, sex, BMI matched). They studied 9,865 patients with sleep apnea and 43,598 controls.
Read ArticleInitiation of Urate-Lowering Therapy During Gout Attacks
A retrospective analysis examined whether it's better to initiate urate-lowering therapy (ULT) during or after an attack of acute gout.
Read ArticleToxoplasma Infections in the Immunosuppressed
In the USA, toxoplasmosis is the second leading cause of foodborne illness–related death and hospitalization, with >300 deaths and 4000 hospitalizations each year [2]; 4800 people develop visual loss yearly secondary to the parasite.
Read ArticleFDA Holds Off on Xeljanz Approval for Psoriasis
The FDA has denied Pfizer's application seeking an indication for Xeljanz in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.
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