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Troponin and BNP in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension
Common cardiac biomarkers could be used to identify patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) at risk for developing pulmonary hypertension, French researchers reported.
Read ArticleLimited Counseling for Increased Sodium Intake in the U.S.
Increased sodium intake has been shown to increase Th17 cell activity, and in animal models high-salt diets have been shown to drive IL-23-dependent TH17 cells to cause experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (citation source (http://url.ie/z238). I
Read ArticleMicroscopic Polyangiitis Associated with Pulmonary Fibrosis
Fresolimumab (anti-TGF beta) Improves Systemic Sclerosis
Transforming growth factor (TGF-β) is known to have potent profibrotic activity and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis a futile condition with no effective disease modifying treatments.
Read ArticleManagement of Digital Ulcers in Scleroderma
Currently there are no FDA-approved medications for the treatment of digital ulcerations in the United States. Digital ulcers are a common, unfortunate and difficult to manage consequence of the vascular obliteration and fibrosis that accompanies systemic sclerosis.
Read ArticleAdherence to Lupus Meds Linked to Increased Acute Hospitalizations
Using Medicaid data from 2000-2006, 9,600 hydroxychloroquine new users were compared to 3,829 new users of immunosuppressive agents (IS) in patients with SLE. They assessed adherence using the MPR - the medication possession ratio.
Read ArticleInflammatory Ocular Disease in US Veterans
A retrospective review of 1285 US male veterans showed the prevalence of inflammatory eye disease to be 2%. Uveitis was most common (most being anterior uveitis), followed by keratitis, scleritis, episcleritis, and acute ischemic optic neuropathy.
Read ArticleHigh Lupus Flare and Complication Rates in Lupus Pregnancy
An incident cohort study from Denmark showed that 84 SLE pregnancies resulted in 62 live births. Lupus disease activity strongly influenced maternal complications seen in half and fetal complications were observed in one-third of cases.
Read ArticleThe EULAR 2015 Report – Friday and Saturday
These abstracts and presentations were presented last week on the 12th and 13th of June at the EULAR 2015 annual meeting in Rome.
Read ArticleVaricella Zoster Virus Commonly Found in Giant Cell Artery Biopsies
Varicella-zoster virus infection was studied in temporal artery biopsies from those suspected of having giant cell arteritis.
Read ArticleThe EULAR 2015 Report- Friday
These abstracts and presentations were presented 12 June at the EULAR 2015 annual meeting.
Read ArticleThe EULAR 2015 Report - Wednesday
EULAR 2015 started the afternoon of Wednesday June 10th.
Read ArticleDoes Cirrhosis Increase the Risk of Autoimmune Disorders?
A Danish nationwide healthcare registry was used to identify newly diagnosed alcoholic cirrhosis patients between 1977 and 2010. A matched cohort analysis compared each patient with five random individuals from the population.
Read ArticleDifficulties Diagnosing Interstitial Lung Disease in Scleroderma
The diagnosis of chronic lung disease in patients with systemic sclerosis may be difficult because of atypical symptoms, variable evolution and limitations of current classification criteria for a definite diagnosis. Nevertheless, diagnosis is necessary as patients with SSc-ILD have a p
Read ArticleSafety of Azathioprine in SLE Pregnancy Studied
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Sildenafil May Help Heal Scleroderma Ulcers
A prospective study of sildenafil was conducted in 25 centers that included 83 patients and 192 digital ulcers at entry. The odds of healing ulcers was less, but not significant, for sildenafil.
Read ArticleInflammatory Fibromyalgia - Is it Possible?
Fibromyalgia is a noninflammatory disorder. However, there are patients with prolonged morning stiffness, subjective joint swelling and many with modest-to-moderate elevations of acute-phase reactants.
Read ArticleThe Real Prevalence of Sjogren's Syndrome
The population prevalence of Sjogrens syndrome is 0.2%, with an incidence of 4 cases per 100,000 per year. Sjogrens is 20 times more common in females than males.
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Sjogrens Syndrome and Familial Risk
A population based study from Taiwan shows that Sjogren's syndrome, to have a prevalence of 0.05%. The prevalence of the syndrome, however, was 10 times higher among women (0.10%) compared to men (0.01%). Overall, having an affected first-degree relative with Sjogren's syndrome carried
Read ArticleThe Danger Model as an Alternative Cause of Autoimmunity
The danger model was proposed by Matzinger as an alternative (or complement) to the traditional self-non-self (SNS) model of autoimmunity.
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