A report from the University of Michigan examined state-wide medical marijuana showing most of it is used for chronic pain.

The Annals of Internal Medicine reports that the growth and use of compounded pain creams is unwarranted as they were no better than placebo in a randomized controlled trial, suggesting their higher costs are unjustifiable compared to other topical commercially available agents (lidocain

A Medicaid study of lupus (SLE) patients finds that fracture risks are elevated in low‐income SLE and lupus nephritis patients compared to those without SLE.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews new journal articles, news reports, and more from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Two recent reports offer good news to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) women who are planning to become pregnant. 

Research from the NEJM shows that oral antibiotic therapy was noninferior to intravenous antibiotic therapy when used during the first six weeks for complex orthopedic infections.

The interleukin-23 (IL-23)/IL-17 axis plays an important role in inflammation and infection. Some of these chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disorders include PsO, PsA, AS, and IBD. Patients with PsO, PsA, and AS have up to a four-fold risk of developing IBD versus the general population.

There are approximately 750,000 new vertebral compression fractures each year in the United States, with resultant acute and chronic back pain in over one‐third of patients with vertebral fractures (VF).  Both percutaneous vertebroplasty or balloon kyphoplasty have been advocated as useful m

Approximately 90% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have foot problems.

The Annals of Internal Medicine has published a cohort study of lupus nephritis patients with end-stage renal disease showing that renal transplantation is associated with improved survival benefit, and a reduction in death from cardiovascular disease and infection.

Dr Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week at RheumNow.com.

Obese patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who followed a short-term, very low-energy diet showed improvements in multiple aspects of disease activity, a prospective study found.

Despite striking improvements in survival among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in recent decades -- from 1-year survival of less than 50% before the introduction of prednisone to 90% today in most specialized treatment centers -- many challenges remain in this perplexing, multis

In 2019 there have been numerous reports of higher drug pricing for many drugs.  Yesterday it was reported that the price of insulin drugs have more than doubled from 2012 to 2016.

Alcohol, smoking and obesity have all been shown to influence the risk and activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and may also influence response to therapy. This study assesssed whether smoking would influence response to rituximab (RTX) in RA. 

Using data from 5,467 adults in the US in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 2007-2016, researchers found that the prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia has remained at 3.9%, having doubled from the 1960s to the 1990s, corresponding to an estimated 9.2 mill

There seems to be both hope and uncertainty regarding the use of weekly methotrexate (MTX) in giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients whom need to limit their glucocorticoid use.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee on Bone, Reproductive and Urologic Drugs voted Wednesday in favor of approving Amgen’s osteoporosis anti-sclerostin drug, romosozumab (Evenity) for use women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. 

A retrospective analysis of hospitalized patients who also had a gout and pseudogout attack shows that injections of anakinra (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist) were highly effective and safe in nearly three-quarters of patients.  

Tocilizumab (Actemra) was effective for refractory giant cell arteritis (GCA) in real-world practice, although serious infections occurred relatively frequently, Spanish investigators reported.