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Medical Societies to CMS: Not Ready for Stage 3 Meaningful Use
Dozens of medical societies pressed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to temporarily halt implementation of the final stage of Meaningful Use, a program that rewards and penalizes clinicians based on how effectively they use electronic medical records.
Read ArticleOnly 1 in 5 Seek Treatment for Raynaud's
October is Raynaud's Awareness Month according to the Raynaud's Association (http://www.raynauds.org), and a whopping 80 percent of sufferers are not aware they have the disorder and do not seek treatment.
Read ArticleIncreasing Numbers of Knee Replacements
Knee replacement surgery is on the rise, and so is the cost.
Read ArticleAnswering Patient Emails
A recent article by Dr. Joseph Eastern of the Pediatric News Network addressed an issue that confronts all practitioners - how do you handle email from patients?
Read ArticleFibromyalgia Prevalence & Characteristics
PLOS has reported the results of the 2012 US National Health Interview Survey that focuses on fibromyalgia.
Read ArticleDATA-Switch Study Finds the Right Sequence to Building Better Bone Mass
Long-term management of osteoporosis can be challenging, and given the increasing number of choices, the best sequence of drug use has not been addressed adequately.
Read ArticleDAS28-CRP or DAS28-ESR: Are they Biosimilar?
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 ArticleProlonged Breastfeeding Associated with Postmenopausal Osteoporosis
The effects of prior breastfeeding on bone density of postmenopausal women have been controversial. Several studies suggest that breastfeeding and childbirth lead to maternal calcium loss and a decline in bone mineral density (BMD).
Read ArticleA Controlled Trial of Yoga Benefits Arthritis Patients
Yoga and stretching appear to be important forms of exercise for patients with fibromyalgia, but their utility has seldom been explored in patients with rheumatoid or osteoarthritis.
Read ArticleCan Fibromyalgia in Children be Treated Without Medication?
The hallmarks of fibromyalgia -- widespread pain, poor sleep, effort intolerance, fatigue -- are difficult to manage and usually require medication and a multi-modal approach.
Read ArticleHigh False Negative Rate with PFTs in Scleroderma
Researchers in Zurich studed 102 systemic sclerosis with serial PFTs and high-resolution computed tomography of the chest (HRCT). They found significant interstitial lung disease (ILD) by HRCT in 63 percent.
Read ArticleObesity Protects Men from Rheumatoid Arthritis
Researchers from Malmo, Sweden have analyzed data from 383 patients, taken from two population based health surveys with a total of 50,705 participants, and found there is a strong association between a high BMI in men and a lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Read ArticleHigher Death Rates in Ankylosing Spondylitis
A nationwide study of 8600 ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients from Sweden, compared survival to 40,460 controls between 2006-2012.
Read ArticleEducation of the Fibromyalgia Patient
This week's Daily Download is the fibromyalgia “packet” we give to our patients once they have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
Read ArticleShingles Vaccine Not Cost-Effective in Those Under 60
The herpes zoster (HZ- shingles) vaccine was FDA approved for use in individuals over age 50 years. However, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended it only be used in those over age 60 years.
Read ArticleSCOT Study Shows NSAID Safety
Since the 2005 FDA hearing that resulted in the removal of Vioxx and Bextra from the US market, the safety of nonselective NSAIDs (nsNSAIDs) and selective Cox-2 inhibitors (e.g., celecoxib) has been repeatedly questioned, often without new or substantive data.
Read ArticleLife Expectancy Rises, but People Living Longer with More Illness
Lancet has reported that people are living 6.2 years longer, worldside since 1990. Yet, there has been a rise in illness and disability,and a complex mix of fatal and non-fatal ailments leading to a large amount of health loss.
Read ArticleIncreased Vascular Mortality in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Haroon et al has analyzed administrative claims data from Ontario, Canada and compared 21473 AS patients with 86606 normal comparators matched for age, sex, and location of residence.
Read ArticleGrowth Hormone Protects Against Osteoporotic Fractures
In a decade-long study of the effects of growth hormone (GH), 80 women with osteoporosis on HRT, between ages of 50-70 yrs were randomized to receive GH 1.0 U or GH 2.5 U recombinant human GH or placebo sc daily during 3 years and compared to an age-matched populatoin sample of (n=120).
Read ArticleHyperuricemia, Death & Kidney Disease
In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics SocietyTaiwan investigators examined the Annual Geriatric Health Examination Program database (2006 to 2010) to estimate the all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risks associated with serum uric acid le
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