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UK Audit Shows Early RA Referrals Still Too Slow
A national audit of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and early inflammatory arthritis patients included 6,354 patients drawn from 143 trusts and health boards in England and Wales. Early arthritis clinics exist in 57% of trusts.
Read ArticleTNF Inhibitors May Increase Cardiac Risks in Elderly
A retrospective study of elderly rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients on Medicare was conducted by a group of researchers from the University of Alabama.
Read Article10 Ways Rheumatoid Arthritis Could’ve Killed Glenn Frey
I was truly stunned Monday when it was announced that Glenn Frey, from the Eagles, had died as a result of complications from his rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.
Read ArticleMethotrexate Nonadherence is Common
Researchers from Belgium studied patient adherence to MTX (given orally or via injection) in 129 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients over a 16-week period using an electronic monitoring system and two validated adherence questionnaires.
Read ArticleMRI Bone Marrow Lesions Predict Worse Outcomes in Osteoarthritis
Medical Research Council study shows MRI lesions may predict which patients will have more rapidly progressing osteoarthritis.
Read ArticleSteroid Over-Prescribing Persists in RA
Almost half of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the UK receive glucocorticoids from primary care physicians, and of those who are prescribed glucocorticoids, more than half receive more than 10 mg a day.
Read ArticleSeropositivity Increases Risk of Rheumatoid Mortality
Three European registries analyzed their cohorts for outcomes that may be related to seropositivity for anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticarbamylated protein (anti-CarP) antibodies.
Read ArticleCombination or Monotherapy Tocilizumab in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Several rheumatoid arthritis studies have shown that tocilizumab (TCZ) may be as effective as monotherapy when compared to combination therapy (methotrexate plu
Read ArticleGame-Changers 2015: Refining Treatment in Arthritis
Widening experience with JAK inhibition for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and tapering medications among RA patients in remission, along with the success of secukinumab for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), were the most important advances in rheumatology in 2015, according to specialists responding toMedPa
Read ArticleNew Scoring System Predicts 1 year survival in Hip Fracture Patients
A prospective study was conducted in Germany to establish predictors of 1 year survival after a hip fracture in elderly people.
Read ArticleDSB: Managing Methotrexate Toxicity (Best of 2015: #1)
Methotrexate was first introduced in 1955 for leukemia and in 1986 became FDA approved for the treatment of adults with severe, active, rheumatoid arthritis or children with active polyarticular-course juvenile RA.
Read Article2015 ACR RA Guidelines Released– Finally! (Best of 2015: #2)
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 ArticleThe History of Citrullination (Best of 2015)
1998 marked the introduction of citrulline as a unique target in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. The hallmark article by Schellekens et al in the Journal of Clinical Investigation has since been cited over 500 times. Dr.
Read ArticleHow I Choose Biologics (Best of 2015)
Clinical decision-making, occurring at the intersection of the ’art’ and the ’science’ of medicine, remains enigmatic and controversial.
Read ArticleThe Nine Lives of Hydroxychloroquine (Best of 2015)
Hydroxychloroquine is one of many medications frequently used in rheumatology practice.
Read ArticleAlcohol and Methotrexate - What Do You Advise? (Best of 2015: #9)
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 ArticleChikungunya Spread Continues (Best of 2015)
The spread of the viral infection Chikungunya continues with the CDC issuing a travel advisory for those traveling to Mexico, where over 7000 cases of the viral infection have been reported.
Read ArticleDAS28-CRP or DAS28-ESR: Are they Biosimilar? (Best of 2015)
The disease activity score (DAS28) has been developed as a dynamic assessment tool and a therapeutic response measure for use in clinical trials and practice.
Read ArticleWill the Balance of JAK inhibition Yield Better Outcomes? Results of New JAK inhibitor - Peficitinib
Researchers from Keio University have published their results using novel JAK inhibitor peficitinib (ASP015K) as a monotherapy in moderate to severe RA patients.
Read ArticlePredicting and Preventing Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatologists and physicians are commonly asked, "what can I do to avoid rheumatoid arthritis?" This is usually a concern for family members of those affected by RA.
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