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ACR-Arthritis Foundation Treatment Guidelines for Osteoarthritis
Today, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in partnership with the Arthritis Foundation (AF), released the 2019 ACR/AF Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip and Knee.
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Best of 2019 - Is Methotrexate Necessary with Tofacitinib?
Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking tofacitinib (Xeljanz) plus methotrexate who achieved low disease activity (LDA) may be able to withdraw from the latter agent without significant worsening of disease activity, a researcher reported at EULAR 2019 in Madrid.
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Best of 2019 - War on RA - Part 1: Walk on the Moon
It’s a great time to be a rheumatologist and to manage RA. But, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve got.
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Best of 2019 - Biologic Safety Guidelines from the British Society for Rheumatology
In the United Kingdom, NICE has looked to the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) to develop evidence based guidance on the safe use of biologic DMARDs in patients with inflammatory arthritis.
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Best of 2019 - Ups and Downs with Abatacept
Two recent studies have examined the effect of starting abatacept upon the risk of serious hospitalized infections or cancer, showing divergent results from claims data analyses.
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Best of 2019 - War on RA - Part 3: Useless Drugs
We have options that are endless – we have 28 biologics in rheumatology; 19 approved for RA in the last 20 years, but 15 of these are me-too copies or biosimilars. We currently have 2 JAK inhibitors and may have 3 or 4 by year end. But what we really need is the right drug, at the right time, in the right patient – but how will we know.
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Best of 2019 - Are Non-TNF Biologics Superior to TNF inhibitors?
Current ACR and EULAR guidelines list TNF-inhibitors (TNFi) abatacept, rituximab, and tocilizumab as being equally effective after methotrexate or as second line therapies when treating rheumatoid arthritis.
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Best of 2019 - Methotrexate and the Risk of Lung Disease
Rheumatology has a comprehensive overview of methotrexate (MTX) and the risk of lung injury, MTX-related pneumonitis and interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Past reports suggest the frequence of MTX-pneumonitis to be between 0.3 and 11.6%; recent studies suggest it may be much lower.
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Best of 2019 - New EMA Warnings for Tofacitinib in Patients at Risk for Clots
The European Medicines Agency safety committee (PRAC) has concluded that Xeljanz (tofacitinib - TOFA) could increase the risk of blood clots in the lungs and in deep veins in patients who are already at high risk for venous thromboembolic events. The PRAC is recommending that TOFA should be used with caution in patients at high risk of blood clots (VTE), regardless of dose used.
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Best of 2019 - Upadacitinib (RINVOQ) FDA Approved for Rheumatoid Arthritis
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, August 16, approved AbbVie JAK1 inhibitor, Rinvoq (upadacitinib) for adults with rheumatoid arthritis with moderately to severely active disease either not responding to, or intolerant of, methotrexate (MTX).
Read ArticleRheumNow Podcast – Merry Lupus XMAS (12.20.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week on RheumNow.com, just in time for Christmas!
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A Role for SGLT2 Inhibition in Gout?
The antidiabetic medication canagliflozin (Invokana) lowered serum urate and reduced the risk of gout flare in a post-hoc analysis of data from two large clinical trials.
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ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for IgG4 Related Disease
IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a relatively new disorder since 2003, and may present as a diagnostic challenge as it can cause fibroinflammatory pathology in nearly any organ.
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Variations in First Biologic Use in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A Canadian analysis shows that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are more likely to receive biologic DMARDs earlier if they are younger, female, and living in urban areas closer to prescribers.
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Link Between Obstructive Lung Disease and Developing RA?
We all know that the microbiome in the gut may be very important for multiple immune diseases. However, new findings from the ACR, 2019 in Atlanta reinforce how important the interface is between the lungs and developing rheumatoid arthritis.
Read ArticleRheumNow Podcast - Monitoring Methotrexate Safety (12-6-19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Biologic Safety Guidelines from the British Society for Rheumatology
In the United Kingdom, NICE has looked to the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) to develop evidence based guidance on the safe use of biologic DMARDs in patients with inflammatory arthritis.
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Smoking Cessation Lowers RA Disease Activity and CV Risks
A multinational cross-sectional cohort study suggests that smoking cessation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is associated with lower disease activity measures, improved lipid profiles and lower rates of cardiovascular (CV) events.
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Apremilast Reduces Oral Ulcers in Behcet's Syndrome
A multinational trial finds a statistically significant number of patients with Behçet's syndrome showed a greater reduction in the number of oral ulcers with apremilast compared with placebo.
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Systemic JIA-Associated Lung Disease
A disease you’ve never heard of is becoming increasingly common and carries a very poor prognosis.
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