Every physician struggles with time and listening. Modern medicine infringes on both of these - and they may be the most humanistic things a physician can give.
A combined rule of five -- the presence of at least five fatty lesions/erosions in the sacroiliac (SI) joint, at least five fatty lesions in the spine, or at least five spinal inflammatory lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -- is highly specific for axial spondyloarthritis in patients with chronic back pain.
The experimental bone drug, romosozumab, has succeeded in meeting its primary endpoint by showing it was significantly more effective than teriparatide in a 12-month study assessing total hip bone density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.
JAMA reports the number of traumatic injuries related to bikes in adults nearly doubled from 1998 to 2013 -- going from 8,791 to 15,427. The researchers used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which includes data from of 100 emergency departments, and U.S. Census data to exptrapolate to the whole country.(Sanford T, et al.
Reuters reports that Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (a Canadian Pharmaceutical company) is buying rights to AstraZeneca's late-stage experimental psoriasis drug, brodalumab, after it was dropped by codeveloper Amgen Inc in May. Amgen pulled out of the project because suicidal thoughts were observed in some patients taking the medicine, casting a shadow over its prospects.
Uveitis is a common association of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) that has previously been characterized by poor visual prognosis with limited options for effective treatment. Since corticosteroid treatment is not a preferred long-term option for most patients with this condition, systemic immunosuppressive therapy is frequently employed.
RA patient complicated by invasive fungal infection with coccidioidomycosis is discussed by Drs. Tesser and Cush
Guermazi and colleagues have investigated whether end-stage knee osteoarthritis (OA), assessed as grade 4 Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) radiographic changes, are really "end stage".
Lancet has reported that people are living 6.2 years longer, worldside since 1990. Yet, there has been a rise in illness and disability,and a complex mix of fatal and non-fatal ailments leading to a large amount of health loss.
This study from 188 countries examined the Global Burden of Disease study was led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
PNAS has reported the work of an international team of scientists from the University College Dublin and the University of Sheffield, who have studied DNA samples and biopsy samples from joints of over 1,000 rheumatoid arthritis patients in the UK and Ireland and determined the C5orf30 gene to be a negative regulator of RA severity (Citation source http://buff.ly/1PG8ynK).
RheumNow is committed to reporting safety issues in our monthly Drug Safety Bulletins. Each month we will update you with reports of new, ongoing and resolved Drug Shortages that will affect the practicing rheumatologist. If you have suggestions or information about specific drug shortages or drug safety issues please email us at: info@rheumnow.com .
Haroon et al has analyzed administrative claims data from Ontario, Canada and compared 21473 AS patients with 86606 normal comparators matched for age, sex, and location of residence.
In a decade-long study of the effects of growth hormone (GH), 80 women with osteoporosis on HRT, between ages of 50-70 yrs were randomized to receive GH 1.0 U or GH 2.5 U recombinant human GH or placebo sc daily during 3 years and compared to an age-matched populatoin sample of (n=120).
In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics SocietyTaiwan investigators examined the Annual Geriatric Health Examination Program database (2006 to 2010) to estimate the all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risks associated with serum uric acid levels in elderly adults. They found (as expected) that men have higher uric acid levels than women and that mean levels increase with age (P 0.001).
The FDA is under pressure over the recent approval of the "female viagra" pill. On August 18th, the FDA announced its approval for Addyi (flibanserin) to treat acquired, generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in premenopausal women. Prior to Addyi’s approval, there were no FDA-approved treatments for sexual desire disorders in men or women.
