Interactions between an individual’s genetic background and their exposure to environmental factors are thought to result in a cascade of immune reactions, ultimately leading to the development of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and juvenile dermatomyositis.1,2 For example, an environmental factor that conclusively affects susceptibility…
(Reuters)—Kitov Pharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd. said on Tuesday its lead drug, KIT-302, met the main goal of a late-stage study, reducing pain without increasing the risk of heart diseases in patients with osteoarthritis. Israel-based Kitov says its drug does not need to be labeled with health warnings, but will instead say it reduces the risk of…
It has been two months since the implementation of ICD-10, so everyone has gotten a feel for the new code set. Let’s see how well you are doing in your diagnosis coding for rheumatology-specific conditions. A 55-year-old female patient presents for a follow-up visit of idiopathic chronic gout of multiple joints without tophi. She complains…
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common reasons for physician appointments. However, treatment results remain suboptimal, resulting in high rates of chronic pain, narcotic usage, surgery, depression and disability—all at great cost to individuals and the nation. One reason for this is the current practice of grouping all low back pain patients…
My dear friends, we come to praise Caesar. As we march toward 2016, we ought to acknowledge the great Roman emperor’s role in creating a proper calendar. At the start of Caesar’s reign, the calendar year lasted 355 days, 10¼ days fewer than the time it took the earth to fully orbit the sun.1 Although…
Case report: A 27-year-old male was referred to the rheumatology outpatient department in February 2015 from the urology department after complaining of recent-onset uncontrolled hypertension (220/160 mmHg), headache and vomiting. In 2010, he was admitted to the urologist for sudden-onset left lumbar region pain and recent-onset hypertension. Clinical examination and the blood tests were normal….
Recognizing the need to provide guidance on the current disparate management of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in collaboration with the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), recently published the first international set of recommendations for the screening, treatment and management of PMR.1,2 Specifically, the recommendations offer guidance on the use of…
On May 23, 2010, Cindy Abbott was standing on top of the world. She had spent the past 51 days climbing Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, and had finally reached the summit. “I was very anxious to get off and get back down,” she says, adding that the summit is about the…
Two years ago, at the age of 102, rheumatologist Ephraim P. Engleman, MD, FACR, FACP, published a memoir, My Century, in which he detailed his personal and professional accomplishments, as well as his secrets to longevity. With his characteristic sense of humor, Dr. Engleman noted that the first secret to a long life is to…
In medicine, as in all other areas of human endeavor, we cannot really understand where we are if we don’t understand how we arrived here. American rheumatology traces its origins nine decades back to Europe, when the International Committee on Rheumatism was founded by Jan van Breeman in 1925 at a European meeting of medical…