Hydroxychloroquine Retinal Toxicity Reviewed
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ or Plaquenil) retinopathy is rare, but still a major concern among patients and prescribers.
News
DSB Reports and Updates - October 2015
This month's DSB addresses labeling changes as well as safety reports from literature, including steps to prevent major birth defects, timing and intervals between PCV13 and PPSV23 vaccines, PPIs and subacute cutaneous lupus, and FDA warnings on tramadol in children.
ICD-10 Headlines
Nearly 2 weeks have passed since the painful launch of ICD-10 in US medical practices.
Physical Therapy Has Modest Effects on Acute Low Back Pain
A new JAMA study shows new onset back pain treated with physical therapy yields modest short-term (3 months) improvement.
Prescription Opioid Use Falls While Abuse Rises
From 2003 to 2013, the percentage of nonmedical use of prescription opioids decreased among adults in the U.S., while the prevalence of prescription opioid use disorders, frequency of use, and related deaths increased, according to a study in the October 13 issue of JAMA.
Diet, Exercise and Glucosamine Fail to Prevent Knee Osteoarthritis
Primary prevention of osteoarthritis is an ideal goal for which there has been little success in clinical trials.
Infertility in Rheumatoid Arthritis Linked to Disease Activity
Women with rheumatoid arthritis are said to have a normal number of pregnancies. However, most of these are conceived prior to the onset of RA. Once diagnosed, the RA patient who wishes to become pregnant may be faced with difficult medication choices if she is planning to become pregnant.
Genetic Basis for Pediatric Autoimmune Diseases
Researchers at CHOP have published their investigations into the heritability of pediatric autoimmune diseases that affects roughly one in 12 persons.
Visceral and Liver Fat Linked With Men's High Urate
Both visceral and liver fat accumulation significantly increased the risk of hyperuricemia in men, a cross-sectional Japanese study found.
Increased Risk of Shingles with Inflammatory Myositis
A study from the Taiwan National Health Insurance examined 2023 patients with new diagnoses of dermatomyositis or polymyositis and population controls and examined the frequency of Herpes zoster.
Circadian Efficacy with Cathepsin K Inhibitor ONO-5334
Osteoporosis is associated with significant morbidity, and hip fractures as sequelae confer a 1-year mortality risk of 8.4–36%.
Is DLCO Predictive in Rheumatoid Interstitial Lung Disease?
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Its presence may portend grave outcomes for those affected. The prevalence of ILD in RA ranges from 7.7% to 44% depending on the assessment tools used.
Optimizing Treat-to-Target in RA
Treat-to-target is a common management strategy for rheumatoid arthritis that aims to employ the strategy most effective in terms of achievement of optimal therapeutic outcomes in RA.
Healthcare Consumer Engagement Increasing
Deloitte published its 2015 Healthcare Consumer Survey to examine online resource and technology use by patients. This is important, as the health care industry has expanded the development of online information resources, mobile applications, and personal health devices.
Hip Fractures Increased in Rheumatoid Arthritis
An analysis of 741,589 patients over age 45 years from southern Swedish registry examined patients who were followed (between 1998 and 2012) until a hip fracture, death or exit from the region occurred.
