In states with legalized medical cannabis use, 3 in 10 persons are using cannabis to manage their pain.
Sadly, too many of our rheumatology colleagues passed on in 2022. Here is an (incomplete) list of notable brethren, mentors, do-gooders and great rheumatologists:
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the best of 2022 in Rheumatology - highlights on new drug indications, breakthrough lupus therapies, new biosimilars and the multivitamin letdown.
2022 was a year of recovery, discovery, and some losses. While still dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19, rheumatologists were resilient as leaders for their patients and research in advancing rheumatologic care.
Many Americans think of gout as a disease from a bygone era, akin to rickets or scurvy. The condition commonly afflicted the rich and royal, including American historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
Reuters reports that in 2023, drug makers intend to increase the price of over 350 drugs.
Despite public outcry and goverment attempts to limit drug price increases (Biden's Inflation Reduction Act;IRA), these increases are expected to begin in January 2023. The IRA is suppose to allow the government's Medicare health program to negotiate prices directly for some drugs starting in 2026.
One-third of patients admitted with giant cell arteritis (GCA) were rehospitalized within 6 months, largely because of complications potentially related to corticosteroid therapy, researchers found in a retrospective cohort study.
Among the cohort of 1,206 patients hospitalized with GCA in the U.S., 6-month readmission rates stood at 34%, according to Radjiv Goulabchand, MD, of CHU Nîmes in France, and colleagues.
The American College of Physicians (ACP) has issued an update of its guideline with clinical recommendations for treatments of primary osteoporosis and low bone mass in adults. In the new guideline, ACP recommends bisphosphonates as initial pharmacologic treatment to reduce the risk of fractures in males and postmenopausal females diagnosed with primary osteoporosis.
The American College of Rheumatology is pleased to announce another successful recruitment season and welcomes this impressive pool of applicants to the field of rheumatology.
A global, population-based study shows that physical inactivity is not only an important modifiable risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions, it also imparts a considerable health and economic burden that is avoidable.
A nemesis is so much more than the "enemy". Your nemesis defines what matters most to you and how you will overcome. Seth Godin once said, “Pick your enemies, pick your future”.
A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine reports chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients can be safely treated with allopurinol without an increased risk of mortality.
A colleague of mine once told me an interesting story of how her father, who was a doctor, misdiagnosed his wife with fibromyalgia when she actually had psoriatic arthritis with enthesitis all along. I would venture out and say that the average physician would have trouble evaluating enthesitis because even we, as rheumatologists do!
Impressive data on novel treatment for SLE were presented at the EULAR22 Congress. A disease that is difficult to study due to its pleomorphic presentation, unpredictable disease course, and high mortality rates, SLE is considered the dragon of all autoimmune diseases. Here are highlights of four exciting abstracts presented at the meeting with emerging therapeutics designed to slay the beast.
A beloved childhood game I enjoyed was Freeze Tag. Players would run to avoid being tagged by the person who was “It”. If you were tagged, you had to “freeze” in your spot until someone was brave enough to come un-tag you. The game ends when everyone is frozen or if people quit. For over 2 years, I have been living in a real-life “Freeze Tag” game and able to dodge COVID19, until now. Sitting in my room symptomatic and frozen in
