Skin Remission in Dermatomyositis is Uncommon
JAMA Dermatology reports that clinical remission was relatively uncommon in dermatomyositis, despite aggressive systemic therapy, but was best in those receiving mycophenolate during a 3-year study.
News
Weight Loss Does Not Protect OA Knees
A new study presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) shows that obese people with substantial weight loss may significantly slow down the rate of joint space narrowing (cartilage degeneration) in the knee cartilage, but only if they lose weight through diet and exercise or di
Pregnancy Outcomes Worse with Myopathies
Women with the autoimmune inflammatory myopathies dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) are at increased risk for hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, a nationwide retrospective study found.
ACR Clinical Guidelines Flawed by Low Evidence
JAMA Internal Medicine has reported that recommendations and clinical practice guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology are often based on expert opinion, but lack rigorous (grade A) evidence to support many of their recommendations.
Physician Visit Times Vary Worldwide
A metanalysis published in BMJ Open shows that for half of the world’s population, primary care doctor visits last less than five minutes and that the range is from 48 seconds in Bangladesh to 22.5 minutes in Sweden (US PCP visit averages at 20 minutes).
Prevalence of Arthritis Grossly Underestimated
Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine have published a new report showing that arthritis affected 91 million adults in the US in 2015 or 37% of the poplulation. Their prevalence estimate is 68% higher than previously reported arthritis national estimates.
Gout Associated with Work Absenteeism
Annals of Rheumatic Disease reports that gout is associated with higher work absenteeism and thus, increased costs for society due to productivity loss.
CDC Lyme Disease Surveillance Report
Lyme disease, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burdofgeri, is the most common vector-borne illness reported in the U.S.
Surgical Decompression Ineffective for Subacromial Shoulder Pain
Lancet reports that a common surgical intervention, arthroscopic sub-acromial decompression is ineffective compared to arthroscopy or no surgery at all.
Vitamin D Insensitivity in the Rheumatoid Joint
Researchers from the University of Birmingham have shown that while Vitamin D may be effective at preventing the onset of inflammation, it is less effective once inflammatory disease is established - largely because, once established, rheumatoid arthritis leads to vitamin D insensitivity.
Opioid Crisis Costs US $500 Billion
Reuters reports that the opioid crisis has cost the United States as much as $504 billion in 2015, based on a White House economists report released this week. The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) said the toll from the opioid crisis represented 2.8% of gross dom
RheumNow ACR 2017 Awards
The Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology is a gargantuan educational and professional event that is on nearly everyone's radar each year. RheumNow had an expansive effort to cover this meeting and you can review the work of our faculty at ACR17.RheumNow.com. But we have decided to take this one step further and today we are announcing our 2017 RheumNow ACR Awards.
