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Methotrexate Improves Pegloticase Efficacy and Tolerability
The efficacy of intravenous pegloticase (PEG) therapy in gout can be limited by its toxicity, but when coadministered with weekly methotrexate, higher response rates and less toxicity was observed.
Read ArticleThe Burden of Gout
Danve and Neogi have an editorial in the current Arthritis & Rheumatology about the burden of gout that affects 41 million adults worldwide, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017) also published in the same issue.
This makes gout twice as prevalent as rheumatoid arthritis (19 million). This prevalence of this most common inflammatory arthritis is undermined by numerous challenges in the diagnosis and examples of insufficient disease management. The editorial points out the magnitude of the disease and the many challenges facing rheumatologists.
SEMIRA Study: Best to Continue Low Dose Steroids in RA
The SEMIRA trial studied the tapering vs continuing oral glucocorticoids in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who achieved a low disease activity state (with tocilizumab) were more likely to show safety and better disease control with continuing steroids - even though two-thirds of patients were able to safely taper their glucocorticoid dose.
Read ArticleRheumNow Podcast – COVID-19 Responds to Steroids (7.24.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the News and Journal Reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Read ArticleLow Risk of COVID in Biologic Treated Rheum Patients
In an Annals of Rheumatic Disease report, Italian investigators performed consecutive testing for SARS-CoV-2 (IgM and IgG) between 25 March to 25 May 2020 and compared test results between rheumatic disease (RMD) patients and the general population.
Read ArticleFor TNF Response in RA, Weight Matters
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were obese were significantly less likely to remain on treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors -- but so were those who were underweight, a large, long-term study determined.
Compared with patients with normal weight, patients in obesity class II, whose body mass index (BMI) was 35 to 39.9, had a hazard ratio for shorter drug survival (i.e., the drug's effectiveness, safety, and tolerability) of 1.28 (95% CI 1.06-1.54), while those in obesity class III, whose BMI exceeded 40, had a hazard ratio of 1.67 (95% CI 1.29-2.18), according to Sytske Anne Bergstra, PhD, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues.
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