Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the inclusion of new evidence that Cosentyx® (secukinumab) significantly slows the progression of joint structural damage at Week 24 versus placebo in those with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

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 

This EULAR 2018 Podcast is a compilation of audio clips from EULAR in Amsterdam. Click HERE to listen. You can also listen on iTunes, Soundcloud or Stitcher.

Our colleagues in gastroenterology measure drug levels with certain biologics used in inflammatory bowel disease in order to increase the dose for optimal benefit if the patient has a low trough level (i.e. targeting drug level). There have been GI trials with T2T with drug levels but they are not always suggesting that the strategy is superior to usual care. Also, this is really not a common practice in rheumatology.

We are supposed to treat to a target (T2T) in RA. In other words, measure many components of the disease and its activity and calculate a score and if the patient is not in remission (or a low state if remission is not achievable) we are to make a treatment change.

There were many presentations at EULAR 2018 in Amsterdam about the mortality of RA.

The annual EULAR meeting just came to an end today. Rooms are gradually emptying out. People look both content to have updated their knowledge and relieved that four very busy days have concluded. Time to summarize.

I was delighted to see that investigators presenting work at EULAR 2018 haven’t lost interest in our old friend methotrexate, with a number of abstracts examining issues of safety, dose and route of administration.Low incidence of methotrexate induced liver abnormalities

Day 3 highlights include Behcet’s responds to apremilast and that biologics do not differentially affect TKR/THR post-operative infection rates. Be sure to check out today's podcast as well. 

This EULAR 2018 Podcast is a compilation of audio clips from EULAR in Amsterdam. Click HERE to listen. You can also listen on iTunes, Soundcloud or Stitcher.