ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Evidence shows that African Americans have a higher burden of osteoarthritis, with lower use of conventional medications, and are less adherent to the medications they take. They also get arthroplasty procedures less often, and when they do have the procedures, they report greater pain, worse function and lower satisfaction with them. In RA…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—The results of a post-authorization study comparing the cardiovascular safety of febuxostat vs. allopurinol were presented in a late-breaking abstract session at the ACR’s fully virtual annual meeting on Monday, Nov. 9. Cardiologist Thomas MacDonald, MD, FRCP, MBChB, clinical professor (teaching and research) of molecular and clinical medicine, University of Dundee School of…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—With an understanding of the key causes that are behind immune abnormalities in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatologists gain insights into this disease. During the ACR Convergence session Immunology Update—The Decade in Review: 10 Steps to SLE, Chandra Mohan, MD, PhD, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Endowed Professor, University of Houston, provided…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Patients with concurrent rheumatological arthritis (RA) and liver disease or interstitial lung disease or treatment-refractory rheumatoid arthritis pose treatment challenges, according to the panelists of the ACR Convergence 2020’s How I Treat Difficult RA: Panel Session. Each panelist discussed a difficult case and raised questions on how to best treat it. Joan M….
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Although rheumatologists have struggled with a lack of new therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), recent positive trial results have brought renewed hope for more treatments. That was the theme of the ACR Convergence 2020 session, State of the Art: Lupus—The Future Is Now, led by Peggy Crow, MD, the Benjamin M. Cohen…
The search for knowledge has shaped Western culture and is based on Greek philosophy, especially Aristotelian metaphysics. During the Middle Ages, this knowledge was matured by dialectical scholasticism, culminating, in its later stages, in the amalgam between Islamic science and the neo-Aristotelianism of St. Thomas Aquinas.1 In this way, the foundations of the future scientific…
A recent paper in Arthritis & Rheumatology opens up the possibility of a new research avenue to treat systemic sclerosis: dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) inhibitors, a previously approved therapy for type 2 diabetes.1 Work in mouse models and on skin samples from systemic sclerosis patients suggests these drugs pose a promising area of future translational…
A study that focused on the detection and immunological characteristics of cryoglobulins provides insights for rheumatologists and other rheumatology providers, as well as lab professionals. Co-researchers Marie N. Kolopp-Sarda, PharmD, PhD, and Pierre Miossec, MD, PhD, Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, University of Lyon, France, included in their retrospective study, published in…
It was a delight to read the comments in the May 2019 issue of The Rheumatologist on a paper by Hirsch and colleagues, discussing how health literacy affects the patient global assessment.1,2 Patient-driven outcome measures (PROs), patient global assessment on a visual analog scale (VAS) or a numeric rating scale (NRS), a segmented numeric version…
A recent article in Arthritis Care & Research supports the idea that the patient global assessment reflects primarily the patient’s experience of their functioning in daily life.1 Background The patient global assessment is a key measure used by clinicians and researchers to help evaluate disease status in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Lead author Ethan T. Craig,…