An Australian study found an association between child physical performance measures and adult knee structures. The data, collected from three points in participants’ lives, revealed a link between childhood activity and adult tibial cartilage volume and bone area.
Despite new therapeutics, progress for RA patients has virtually stalled over the past 10 years. In this article, the authors discuss many options to advance to a cure and the evidence for them, including the combination of low-dose methotrexate and anti-TNF; targeting angiogenesis and tissue damage pathways directly; antigen-specific therapy; potential combination of TNF and IL17 blockade; and targeting inhibitory receptors and regulatory T cells.
ROME, Italy—Even with classification criteria that have been updated and refined over time, rheumatoid arthritis is still a diagnosis that ultimately has to be made with clinical judgment, said Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and chief of clinical therapy research in inflammatory diseases at the Karolinska University in Sweden. His remarks came…
ROME, Italy—Fatigue, a problem experienced frequently by patients with rheumatic diseases, is best thought of as a survival mechanism and as a single phenomenon, not a condition that comes in a variety of forms, an expert said in a session at EULAR 2015, the annual congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR). Gene Regulated…
William Robinson, MD, PhD, first became interested in rheumatology in medical school when he started working with a rheumatologist, as well as several other rheumatology mentors. After completing his residency, he joined the rheumatology fellowship program at Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, Calif., where he earned support for his research from the Rheumatology Research…
(Reuters Health)—Knee replacement surgery may significantly ease pain and improve leg function and quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a new study suggests. While surgery doesn’t restore the same level of comfort and function patients had in their younger years, before they developed arthritis, the authors write in the journal…
A new study has examined how ACPA may originate at the molecular level. The researchers propose that numerous environmental factors may trigger the generation of ACPAs that then cross-react with various citrullinated human autoantigens through molecular mimicry to induce RA…
From 1996–2011, the rates of hospitalization due to serious infectious diseases in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) increased substantially, according to new research. In a retrospective data-driven study, researchers plotted and compared hospitalization and in-hospital mortality rates of SLE and non-SLE populations, determining the trends for the five most common infections…
I have spent my entire academic career as a clinical investigator and have grown to recognize the importance of a strong and vibrant rheumatology workforce. However, I am deeply concerned about our ability as a subspecialty to sustain our research enterprise and take advantage of the modern breakthroughs in science. The reduction in federal funding…
CHICAGO—With the approval of the Jak inhibitors (i.e., jakinibs) tofacitinib and ruxolitinib—and others being investigated—rheumatologists need to arm themselves with an understanding of these drugs so they can think critically when evaluating them and deciding how to use them, said John O’Shea, MD, chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch of and scientific director…