Doctors are Unaware How Opioids are Abused
A survey of internists and family practitioners shows that half of physicians are unaware of how opioids are abused.
News
Adherence to Lupus Meds Linked to Increased Acute Hospitalizations
Using Medicaid data from 2000-2006, 9,600 hydroxychloroquine new users were compared to 3,829 new users of immunosuppressive agents (IS) in patients with SLE. They assessed adherence using the MPR - the medication possession ratio.
Adherence to ETN/MTX is Greater Than Triple DMARD Therapy
Rheumatoid management hinges on choosing your best therapies first.
Right Knee Pain - What's Your Dx?
A 36 year-old white male butcher has right knee pain for 3 weeks. He noted a similar episode 5 years earlier and admits to a traumatic fall on that knee years ago. He denies fever, redness, warmth, other joints or other past medical problems. He only takes OTC ibuprofen prn.
Australia Allows Pharmacy Substitution with Biosimilars Without Notice
Biosimilars are copies of the biologic medicines used to treat inflammatory and immunologic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer- potentially at lower costs.
Chikungunya Infection in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Chikungunya virus (CKV) is an acute febrile illness caused by an alpha virus that mimics RA in its clinical presentation.
Inflammatory Ocular Disease in US Veterans
A retrospective review of 1285 US male veterans showed the prevalence of inflammatory eye disease to be 2%. Uveitis was most common (most being anterior uveitis), followed by keratitis, scleritis, episcleritis, and acute ischemic optic neuropathy.
The History of Citrullination
1998 marked the introduction of citrulline as a unique target in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. The hallmark article by Schellekens et al in the Journal of Clinical Investigation has since been cited over 500 times. Dr.
NICE Judges Apremilast Less Cost Effective than TNF Inhibitors
The National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence has turned down Otezla for coverage under the U.K. healthcare system for psoriatic arthritis.
High Lupus Flare and Complication Rates in Lupus Pregnancy
An incident cohort study from Denmark showed that 84 SLE pregnancies resulted in 62 live births. Lupus disease activity strongly influenced maternal complications seen in half and fetal complications were observed in one-third of cases.
Conservative Equals Surgical Management of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
A randomized controlled trial of compared the outcomes of surgical decompression or physical therapy in 169 lumbar spinal stenosis patients. After two years, intention-to-treat analyses revealed no difference between groups.
Psoriatic Arthritis Occurs in 10-15% of Psoriasis Patients
Estimates on the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis among psoriasis patients has varied widely, ranging from 5-40%. A systematic review of the literature shows that prevalence of undiagnosed PsA was 15.5% when all studies were considered and 10.1% when only epidemiological studies were consi
Brain Natriuretic Peptide Measurement in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Cardiovascular (CV) risk and adverse cardiac outcomes are common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been presumed that chronic systemic inflammation has a deleterious effect on the myocardium and vasculature, thereby leading to higher rates of MI, CHF and CV death.
Intraarticular Hip Injection of Ketorolac Equals Steroid Responses
Using ultrasound guided intraarticular injection of the hip, 98 OA of the hip patients were randomized to receive IA ketorolac or triamcinolone. At, 1, 3, and 6 mos pain scale and Harris hip scores were improved equally in both groups with no statistical differences.
Thiazide Diuretics May Reduce Osteoporotic Fracture Risk
A large Swedish cohort study of hypertensive men and women presented at the 25th Scientific Meeting of the European Society of Hypertension, identitied a protective effect on osteoporotic fractures among current users of thiazide diuretic drugs independent of blood pressure level. This retr
