In a study that compared seropositive (RF+, CCP+) and seronegative RA with healthy participants, the frequency of thyroid antibodies was assessed. Disease activity was assessed along with labs for thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO), thyroglobulin antibodies (anti-TG), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), total triiodothyronine (TT3), TSH receptor antibodies (TRAbs) and total thyroxin (TT4), ESR and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.
A recent study published in the journal Patient Preference and Adherence examined insured patients from the Optum Research Database who had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and queried them about their satisfaction with therapy. (Citation Source http://buff.ly/1MpWMQg)
Methotrexate was first introduced in 1955 for leukemia and in 1986 became FDA approved for the treatment of adults with severe, active, rheumatoid arthritis or children with active polyarticular-course juvenile RA.
Using statistics gathered by the NIH in 2012, the National Health Interview Survey of 8781 adults showed self-reported chronic pain affects 25.3 million adults, or 11.2% of the populatoin. Based on the persistence and bothersomeness of their pain, 14.4 million adults (6.4%) were classified as having category 4 pain, the highest level of pain, with an additional 25.4 million adults (11.3%) experiencing category 3 pain.
In reviewing submitted abstracts for the 2014 ACR meeting, I was surprised by several abstracts focusing on neutropenia in patients receiving rituximab. One of these has recently been published by the French AIR registry, who examined the frequency of neutropenia among 2,624 patients with refractory autoimmune diseases (1,975 RA patients) who had been treated with rituximab.
Dr. Schwartzman reviews the proceedings of the 2015 Annual SPARTAN conference devoted to advances in spondyloarthritis.
A recent survey by AmericanEHR Partners and the AMA of 940 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners showed most physicians are dissatisfied with their EHR systems. Results demonstrated that only 22% of participants were satisfied and 12% were very satisfied with their EHR system, compared with 39% and 22%, respectively, in 2010. Overall most felt that their EHR systems did not decrease workloads.
Are the benefits of androgen supplementation in older men overstated? Might the risks be understated?
In a recent JAMA report, Bashin and colleagues randomly assigned 308 men 60 years or older with low or low-normal testosterone levels to receive testosterone (n = 156) or placebo (n = 152) gel packets daily for 3 years. The dose was adjusted to achieve testosterone levels between 500 and 900 ng/dL.
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are first line defense tools used to trap microbial pathogens. These dense networks of extracellular fibers, composed of DNA from neutrophils may also be important in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as they are potent activators of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and type I interferon (IFN) release.
Since publication of the Jupiter trial that showed statin effects may include the lowering of C-reactive protein levels and inflammation, there have been several efforts to study the adjunctive effects of statins in rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
The British Journal of Dermatology has published online the results of an International Psoriasis Council (IPC) survey identifying 21 psoriasis research priorities. The results will also appear in a future print edition of the journal.
Wang and coworkers from the Rochester Epidemiology Project presented their findings at the annual Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network.(SPARTAN) in Denver, CO.
A new expanded cardiovascular (CV) risk calculator for use in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been developed to take into account disease-specific factors that can worsen risk, researchers reported.
In July 2015, RheumNow published 73 tweets about impactful news, research and teaching points that I feel will have an impact on the rheumatology community. We had a reach (impressions) of 49,900, 63 mentions, and 1277 visits to RheumNow.com to check out what we publish. The following list includes our top tweets from the month of July as defined by the number of clicks, retweets and likes.
Despite Amgen's withdrawal as a co-developer of brodalumab, the anti-IL17A monoclonal antibody, AstraZeneca has announced it will push its plan to develop the drug. Brodalumab is currently in phase III trials for use in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
