Recent research found 41% of pediatric patients with SLE are affected by at least mild disability, with higher pain scores correlating with increased disability. Mary Beth Son, MD, says determining how these children feel and what affects them daily is vital to “identifying targets we can hit as clinicians to improve their quality of life.”
In the past nine years, visits to the emergency department by gout patients have increased by almost 27%. Researchers suggest physicians may not adequately be addressing the burden of gout and the underlying accumulation of uric acid, driving the dramatic increase in emergency department visits in the U.S…
NETs or LL37-DNA complexes may serve as future targets for SLE therapy. In a recent study, researchers identified a link between neutrophils and NETs, and the activation of self-reactive B cells. Their study describes a neutrophil-B cell interaction unique to lupus…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Levels of two bone markers currently recommended for evaluating postmenopausal women with osteoporosis have no association with hip fracture risk, according to a new study using Women’s Health Initiative data. “At least in these postmenopausal women, it was not a useful endeavor to check bone turnover markers to predict hip-fracture risk. That…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Solid evidence suggests that anticonvulsants provide no benefit for low back or lumbar radicular pain and a high risk of harm, researchers say. “We started the study because these drugs were increasingly being used for low back pain and radiating leg pain, without the support of strong evidence of effectiveness,” principal investigator…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Romosozumab improves bone mineral density (BMD) in men with osteoporosis, but safety concerns are holding up its approval in the U.S. Up to 2 million men in the U.S. have osteoporosis, and up to 13 million have osteopenia, researchers note in a report online June 20 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Obesity in women and current smoking in men appear to be the strongest predictors of lack of remission in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) within one year, according to new research presented June 13 at EULAR 2018, the annual meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism, in Amsterdam.1 Even though early identification and…
Concerns about how the Trump administration’s ideas to lower drug prices could reduce patient access to medicines led the ACR to speak out on many different fronts. On June 25, at a briefing hosted by the ACR and the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF), a packed room of Congressional staffers and reporters learned from rheumatologists and…
New research suggests circulating hsa-miR-122-5p and hsa-miR-4516 may become diagnostic biomarkers for osteoporosis. The study found the presence of these microRNAs were associated with osteoporotic fragility fractures and reduced bone mineral density…
Within 10 years of diagnosis, 23–45% of patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease may become unemployed due to disease-related disability. Intervention programs may be necessary to prevent this work loss. New research examined if a vocational rehabilitation program delivered by occupational and physical therapists can benefit this patient population…