Many trainees tell me they’re attracted to rheumatology because it demands becoming a complete physician. We need knowledge of the brain, eye, lung, kidney, liver, skin, bones and vascular system to be effective rheumatologists. And because our diseases are frequently multisystem diseases, rheumatologists must be the quintessential collaborators. For more than 30 years, I’ve directed…
Last month I expressed my thoughts on the valuable and varied opportunities the ACR offers for professional and personal growth. Such engagement not only provides an opportunity to connect with your rheumatology colleagues, but also to have a positive impact on patients, supporters and all consumers of healthcare. ACR and ARHP members from every aspect…
It started with an inhaler. Like many of you, I am a rheumatologist. And like you, I see some patients more often their own primary care provider. This is so often the case that I have gradually devolved into their backup, all-purpose doctor. I am the doc they notify when they get hospitalized for pneumonia…
Immunoglobin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare fibro-inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that has been recently recognized. It can cause fibro-inflammatory masses in almost every organ of the body and is associated with dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of IgG4-postitive plasma cells, storiform fibrosis and elevated levels of serum IgG4.1 IgG4-RD is a systemic disease that may…
After an independent review, ongoing clinical trials investigating the safety of fasinumab for treating hip or knee OA will discontinue the use of higher fasinumab doses…
A study identified denosumab as a useful treatment for patients initiating or continuing glucocorticoids who are at risk for fractures. Denosumab had clinical effects similar to risedronate but was more effective than risedronate in the improvement of bone mineral density at the lumbar spine…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Romosozumab shows smaller benefits for increasing bone mineral density (BMD) in the second year of treatment compared to the first, new research suggests. The extension of a phase 2 study in postmenopausal women with low bone mass also found BMD decreased sharply when patients on romosozumab were switched to placebo after two…
With a steadily diversifying U.S. population, the professional and societal consequences of health disparities continue to grow. Rheumatologists may need to innovate to prevent these disparities for their patients. A new ACR program will focus on member-led projects that reduce health racial and ethnic disparities for patients with rheumatic disease…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) should be monitored closely for other autoimmune conditions, researchers suggest. Dr. Benjamin Chong, Dr. Linda Hynan and Elaine Kunzler of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas analyzed data from 129 adults in the UTSW Cutaneous Lupus Registry (mean age, 49; 79% women). Individuals…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A “biomechanical” analysis of a previously taken pelvic or abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan is at least as accurate in assessing an individual’s hip fracture risk as a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan, according to new research. This accuracy of the hip bone mineral density (BMD) T-score as measured by the biomechanical…