All News
Weight Loss Improves Psoriasis
Jennsen et al previously reported their findings regarding weight reductions ability to improve cutaneous psoriasis at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) meeting in 2015, Now their results are published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Read ArticleFemale Physicians are Better in Death, Hospital Readmission Stats
Do hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries treated by female internists have lower rates of 30-day mortality and hospital readmission than those patients treated by men? A new study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that they do.
Read ArticleCDC Report on Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco
Combustible and smokeless tobacco use causes adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and multiple types of cancer. Cigarette consumption in the United States has declined overall since the 1960s, but consumption of other tobacco products has not.
Read ArticlePhysicians Still Over-Prescribe Antibiotics, Narcotics and Opioids
A study by the American College of Physicians (ACP) found that physicians continue to prescribe treatments that offer little benefit to patients, despite the advice of clinical guidelines.
Read ArticleKey Lessons from the TNF Inhibitor Head-to-Head EXXELERATE Study
The EXXELERATE study is featured prominently in Lancet this week. In some ways, this represents a landmark negative trial that rheumatologists should review and be aware of.
Read ArticleRheumatologist Compensation and Manpower
You should use this information to not only fend for yourself, but to more accurately guide trainees into a richly rewarding specialty that pays well and has many distinctions to boast of, including high science, hands-on patient interactions and long-term relationships, great hours, lifestyle and family friendly careers. Our field is in desperate need of high quality, problem-solving practitioners.
Read ArticleThe ACR 2016 Playbook
For me and many others, this is the Super Bowl of meetings. I haven’t missed an ACR meeting since I started going as a fellow in 1984. In this span of 30 years I have acquired insights on how to navigate such a big meeting. When I say big, I mean over 14,000 attendees from over 100 countries swarming throughout a convention center that has the elements of the Texas state fair, a gigantic Costco (on Saturday), and a sold-out concert.
Read ArticleAgressive Early Treatment Prevents Rapid Bone Loss in Rheumatoid Arthritis
The International Osteoporosis Foundation has established the Chronic Inflammation and Bone Structure (CIBS) Working Group to address bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the role of biologic therapies. They conclude that early and aggressive treatment with biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs will help prevent progressive bone loss in patients with RA.
Read ArticleThe RheumNow Week in Review – 28 October 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, news and journal reports from this week at RheumNow.com
Read ArticleACP Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Low Back Pain
Low back pain (LBP) is the fifth most common reason for all physician visits in the United States and nearly 25% of all U.S. adults have had LBP in the last 3 months and nearly 6% reported at least 1 episode of severe acute low back pain in the last 1-year.
Read ArticlePharma Points Blame at PBMs
A Wall Street Journal article claims that U.S. drugmakers are pointing the blame at the middlemen who also influence drug priciing.
Read ArticleRestricting High Price Drugs - A Dangerous Trend?
Who makes billions in profits and millions in bonus monies? PBMs and insurers, thats who.
This week United Healthcare and Express Scripts announced new plans to restrict patient and prescriber access to popular, expensive, albeit FDA-approved, medications and biologics.
Who benefits, who loses?
CDC Reports 31 Million Older Americans Don't Get Adequate Exercise
The Sept.16th issue of MMWR reports that many Americans over age 50 are not getting sufficient exercise, thereby increasing their risk for falls, fractures and comorbidities, if not premature death. (Citation source http://buff.ly/2cPAcq9)
Read ArticleFibromyalgia - Should Internists Manage a Contested Illness?
The current issue of ACP Internist discusses the considerable dissent among the medical community about fibromyalgia (FM), its cause, diagnosis and care. This review addresses many concerns with input from well-known experts in rheumatology.
Read ArticleCPAP Use Fails to Prevent CV Events in Sleep Apnea Patients
There are numerous health hazards associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), including an increased risk of cardiovascular events.
Read ArticleAMA Policy on Freebies and Meals Clarified
A recent JAMA Internal Medicine report on pharmaceutical-sponsored meals disclosed that a $20 meal provided by a drug company could yields 2-5 times more prescriptions. (Citation source http://buff.ly/2cd58i0)
Read ArticleFlares Portend Damage in Rheumatoid Arthritis - Time for a New Strategy?
Disease flares are common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), often causing patients to seek additional care, if not medication.
The frequency of flares varies amongst studies in different populations. But the consequence of flares has only recently been studied.
Read ArticleKnuckle Cracking Good News
Researchers from the radiology department at University of California, Davis Health System have studied the phenomenon of knuckle cracking by simultaneously recording audio and ultrasound imaging from 17 women and 23 men.
Read ArticleSmoking Worsens Rheumatoid Inflammation
Tobacco and chronic smoking is a major risk factor for the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and chronic smoking has been linked to severity of disease and lower DMARD response rates.
Read ArticleDinosaur Arthritis
The recent edition of Science has an interesting article on the cause of death in a dinosaur - septic arthritis.
Palentologists have unearthed a 70 million year old duck-billed dinosaur near New Jersey and found that the arm bones were not quite right.
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