A study from the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology analyzed pregnant women from the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system and compared newly pregnant women who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or acetaminophen or neither showed that using NSAIDs around conception carried a more than four-fold higher risk of early miscarriage. (Citation source: http://bit.ly/2tqNWN6)

"Can stresss be the cause of my autoimmune disease?" is an often launched question met with shrugs of uncertainty or strongly held beliefs rooted in bias moreso than fact.Swedish investigators have analyzed a large registry cohort and shown that exposure to stress-related disorders yields a significantly increased risk of autoimmune disease. They analyzed 106,464 patients with stress-related disorders, with 126,652 full siblings, and

A cohort study of 241 DMARD-naive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, meeting either 1987 ACR or the 2010 ACR/EULAR  classification criteria for RA, compared the baseline status and long term outcomes of seronegative (SNRA) and seropositive (SPRA).

MMWR reports that approximately 46 million persons (14%) in the United States live in nonmetropolitan counties, where there is a higher prevalence of obesity-associated chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, and arthritis. (Citation source: http://bit.ly/2lj5yql)

Obese knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients who lose > 20% of their weight were in significantly less pain, had better function and improved quality of life. 

The EULAR 2018 wound down on Saturday with fewer oral presentations but many posters.  In my last report I put together a collection of impressions and some thematic highlights not covered in previous reports. Also some of these represent research and reporting trends – some healthy, others not so – that were evident at the EULAR 2018 meeting.Pain