Kathy Holliman, MEd, has been a medical writer and editor since 1997. She has worked on several publications focused on infectious diseases, cardiology, endocrinology, oncology/hematology, orthopedics, psychiatry, and pediatrics. Since becoming a freelance writer and editor in 2006, she has contributed to several healthcare publications in the fields of rheumatology, food quality and safety, internal medicine, and other medical association publications and medical education courses. Kathy has attended well over 100 medical meetings in the U.S. and Europe, and she continues to work as a writer and editor for onsite publications at several of those meetings.
Certain medications have been associated for decades with the development of drug-induced autoimmunity. New research published in March 2018 in Arthritis & Rheumatology suggests that NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps) are potentially implicated in the mechanisms that lead to drug-induced autoimmunity.1 Peter Grayson, MD, MSc, head of the Vasculitis Translational Research Program at the National Institute… [Read More]
A proposed model to predict the risk of giant cell arteritis (GCA) prior to a temporal artery biopsy could help triage patients and guide decision making about the need for biopsy or monitoring (see Figure 1). There’s no specific biomarker for GCA, and GCA can be a “diagnostic conundrum, especially when it presents in an… [Read More]
New research reinforces the hypothesis that the gut microbiome triggers mucosal and systemic immune responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The research, published in Arthritis & Rheumatology May 2017, found that subgroups of patients with RA have differential immunoglobulin G (IgG) or IgA immune reactivity with Prevotella copri, an intestinal microbe that appears to be… [Read More]
The ACR’s Advocacy 101 course will be held Sept. 24 in Washington, D.C. The course is an interactive, intensive, full-day opportunity for fellows in training and program directors to learn about and become inspired to advocate for the continued strength of rheumatology recruitment and support for education, research and clinical practice. Course applications will be… [Read More]
An international task force convened by the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) recommends systematic repeated intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) injections as second-line treatment for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). This is the first time a group of experts has made this recommendation, which is directed toward treatment of… [Read More]
A coalition of patient and provider groups, including the ACR, is raising awareness about the effect of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) on patient care and the cost of prescription drugs. The Alliance for Transparent and Affordable Prescriptions, or ATAP, argues that too few restrictions have been placed on PBM transparency, and requirements for PBMs to… [Read More]
The ACR and EULAR have approved and released response criteria for adult and juvenile myositis, the result of a collaborative initiative that involved the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS) and the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO). The decade-long collaboration was consensus driven, examined multiple clinical data sets and natural history studies,… [Read More]
Classification criteria for primary Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) have been approved by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), validating an international set of classification criteria for SS using standards set by both organizations. Those criteria can now be found in the 2016 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome: A… [Read More]
Inflammation in the knee was found to be associated with development of pain sensitization in recent research with a cohort from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST). This research finding may indicate that targeting of inflammation could help reduce pain severity in knee osteoarthritis (OA). Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD, says that her and her colleagues’ research,… [Read More]
A study that found distinct sexual dimorphism in the immunologic profiles of patients with ankylosing spondylosis (AS) suggests that sex is an important variable to address in future research and may eventually lead to more effective sex-specific therapy for patients with the disease. The research, published in the March 2016 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology,… [Read More]