Dr. Cush highlights reports from this week on RheumNow.com.
Dr. Cassie Calabrese: Rheumatic immune-related adverse events from checkpoint therapy
Dr. Cassie Calabrese discusses rheumatic immune-related adverse events from checkpoint therapy at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting.
Dr. Rachel T. Huston: Drug Exposure in Pregnancy (Abstract 2444)
Dr. Rachel T. Huston interviews medical student Emily Fishman, who gave a poster presentation on the effects of drug exposure versus maternal disease activity in inflammatory arthritis patients.
The 21st Century Cures Act has become one of the most-lobbied health care bills in recent history, with nearly a half billion dollars being spent on both sides - those for and against the bill.
The bill is supposed to streamline the approval process of prescription drugs and medical devices by the FDA.
Following the November elections, there are now 29 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized marijuana (aka cannabis) for medical use. Of these, eight states and the District of Columbia have also approved laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Regardless of the stated benefits associated with marijuana use, there are potential health risks. One of these which rheumatologists may see more of in the future is cannabis
Can statins be used to treat osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a major health problem worldwide.
Many readers of RheumNow know of my interest in the history of our discipline, and some of the writings and discoveries which have resulted from them. In the past three years, I have had the opportunity to explore the contributions of Max Hirsch, MD to our field.
Investigators analyzed a prospective study of patients with early axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) to assess predictors of outcome.
Poddubnyy and coworkers studied 178 patients with definite axSpA and serially assessed disease activity using the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) and radiographs to detect spinal progression.
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.
Education on MACRA is the key to successful survival. The important take home points noted in Dr. Will Harvey’s lecture at ACR 2016 (session title: Holy MACRA! How to Survive and Thrive in the New Era of MACRA, MIPS, and APMs) are stated below.
The potential association of herpes zoster with giant cell arteritis (GCA) has been a debated topic and certainly has gotten some attention at ACR 2016 this year.
Is the microbiome influenced by wines "terroir" (“the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate”)? Len Calabrese believes so.
Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) is one of the most difficult autoimmune diseases to treat. In case of major organ involvement (lung, kidney), prognosis is poor and treatment options are limited.
The Cyclophosphamide Or Transplantation (SCOT) multicenter trial was designed to evaluate for long term benefit of myeloablative autologous hematopoetic stem cell therapy (HSCT) over cylcophosphamide (CYC).
The New England Journal of Medicine has reported the results of a large clinical trial demonstrating the efficacy of ustekinumab (Stelara) in treating patients with active Crohn's disease (CD). (Citation source http://buff.ly/2gsSNcs)
