Skip to main content

Blogs

Creaky Joints Nails New Patient Pregnancy and Family Planning Guidelines

Patients and physicians are riddled with misconceptions when pregnancy is concerned. As construed by Dr. Jack Cush, most rheumatologists treat pregnancy like a cancer and avoid the gravid patient, deferring to obstetricians who do not have training in rheumatology to manage the rheumatic condition as well as the pregnancy. 

ACR 2017 Highlights: RA, SpA, PsA, OA, Lupus and More

The quality of the meeting was on par with the host city, with extensive data presented on a range of topics, from social media to drug safety. The organization committee did a great job and I got the feeling that most people felt the congress was user friendly given the magnitude of the event. During this year’s meeting, I had the privilege of working with the RheumNow team, which gave me the opportunity to hone my social media skills and get my Twitter game on. After reviewing plenty of posters and going to numerous presentations, here are my top take home messages as classified by disease state.

Step Into Sunshine

I recently had a follow up with an SLE patient who wanted to discuss sun protection options since moving to Dallas, where we have 232 days of sunshine yearly. Sun protection is important for our patients. As rheumatologists, we have an obligation to go beyond 'avoid the sun or wear sunscreen when you're out' platitudes.

Across the Table: Cush & Erkan on Antiphospholipid Syndrome

The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a common disorder affecting patients with and without autoimmune disease. Despite wider recognition of APS among physicians as well as the expanding research collaborations, many clinical questions are still encountered in clinical practice, which require further evidence-based studies. In this “Across the Table” edition, Drs. Cush and Erkan discuss some of these APS-related questions. Our guest expert, Dr. Doruk Erkan offers up his approach to diagnosis and management of APS.

Forced, Rational or Glitch-Ridden Prescribing Practices

A recent analysis of 3 groups of treatment-naïve, early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) patients looked at the factors that influenced the choice of therapy.

The IL-6 Wars

In the years to come, the availability of numerous new IL-6 inhibitors it will either complicate treatment decisions, alter existing treatment paradigms, or result in an all-out war against TNF inhibitor dominance. Data, differences and time will tell.

My Take on New Ocular Screening Guidelines for Plaquenil

A recent article published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology presented new recommendations for screening of patients being managed with hydroxychloroquine that changed the previous monitoring paradigm. More importantly, it has repositioned hydroxychloroquine from one of the safest medications that rheumatologists use to a drug that can have potentially significant ocular morbidity (if used in doses greater than 5 mg per kilogram and or for prolonged periods of time).

Biologic Prescribing and Patient Education

Biologics are big. Their popularity is reflected in their growing use since being introduced in 1998. Biologics have been used by more than 3 million patients worldwide. In 2013, Enbrel, Remicade and Humira accounted for nearly $30 billion in worldwide sales. In the USA, it is estimated that we will spend $220 billion on biologics by 2017. 

KOLs Predict: What Will the Next Year Bring?

A new subspecialty may emerge. New drugs will be approved (but it will be difficult for patients to get coverage for them). And an American team will win the World Series. All these and more: here are predictions for 2017 and beyond from rheumatologists across the country and around the world.

 

Be the CEO of Your Health

Patients should act as if they are the CEO of a new business. Their business is the disease they must manage. The analogies of managing a business and a disease are numerous and instructive for patients and physicians alike.

The Role of Hydroxychloroquine Blood Levels in SLE

We review the available literature, with a particular focus on the recent findings in the Hopkins Lupus Cohort, regarding the clinical utility of hydroxychloroquine blood levels in helping to clarify some of the issues regarding retinopathy, how best to dose this medication, and medication adherence. 

How Do I Treat Symptomatic Interstitial Lung Disease in Scleroderma?

Will the results of two recent large scleroderma lung studies finally inform us on how to manage interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis?