Indigenous communities in Latin America lack good healthcare—and often lack any healthcare—for musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases.1 Global health initiatives tend to focus on infectious disease, despite the increasing rate of chronic diseases. In a survey of 6,155 individuals from eight indigenous communities, conducted by a team of Latin American investigators, the prevalence of these conditions…
Recent data showing sustained, long-term safety and efficacy of mavrilimumab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) confirm and build on prior evidence from phase 2 studies of the potential for this new agent for the treatment of RA. Mavrilimumab is a human monoclonal antibody that blocks a proinflammatory cytokine involved in RA pathogenesis—granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating…
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA), like other inflammatory diseases, has been associated with increased incidence for and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), the most common comorbidity leading to death in many conditions treated by rheumatologists. But beyond recognizing the burden of increased inflammation, the mechanisms behind this association are not well understood, says M. Elaine Husni, MD,…
The ACR will add a new professional journal, ACR Open Rheumatology, in January 2019. An open access journal, it will feature the same high-quality, rigorously peer-reviewed articles on original investigations in rheumatology research, as well as commentaries and reviews, as the ACR’s other journals, Arthritis & Rheumatology (A&R) and Arthritis Care & Research (AC&R). Co-Editors-in-Chief…
“Don’t believe everything you think,” said Allan Lokos, the founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center located in New York City’s upper west side. These words may be especially important for those dealing with chronic pain, finds new multicenter research. The study, “Trajectories of Fear-Avoidance Beliefs on Physical Activity Over Two Years in…
Presentation A 26-year-old man with a history of acne vulgaris and hidradenitis suppurativa presented to our rheumatology clinic with persistent back pain and stiffness of three years’ duration. He described bilateral low back pain that was worse when he arose in the morning and at night when he was trying to sleep. In a similar…
CHICAGO—At the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in October, the ACR and the ARHP honored distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and patient care. This month, The Rheumatologist speaks with the ACR winners about their individual contributions to advancing rheumatology. You’ll also find the 2018 Masters list. In the next issue,…
During a recent divisional grand rounds presentation, I asked a room full of my colleagues how many of them had been asked about turmeric by a patient within the past year, month, week or day. Most hands remained up by the end of the exercise. During a recent trip to New York City, I was…
Missed appointments have long been a problem for rheumatology practices. A recent poll from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) found no-shows were the single biggest challenge reported by practice leaders, with 44% of respondents citing the issue.1 If a patient does not come to the office when scheduled, it starts a cascade of events…
The past 20 years have seen dramatic changes in the practice of rheumatology, ranging from bench to bedside therapeutic advances to dramatic improvements in diagnostic imaging. The results have been gratifying for our patients and attractive to internal medicine trainees making subspecialty career decisions. We are pleased to provide this article for The Rheumatologist’s wide-ranging…