Lupus Fog? By Laura C. Plantinga, PhD, Patricia P. Katz, PhD, S. Sam Lim, MD, MPH, C. Barrett Bowling, MD, MSPH, & Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH Why was this study done? Perceived cognitive impairment (i.e., lupus fog) is common in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, comprehensive, multidomain assessments of objective cognitive function are rarely performed….
The large vessel vasculitides were a major focus of the 21st International Vasculitis Workshop held in Barcelona in April. The biennial conference brings together specialists from multiple disciplines, including rheumatology, nephrology and immunology, to discuss cutting-edge vasculitis research. This article reviews important points regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of both giant cell arteritis and…
Most Sunday mornings, I make myself an exceptional cup of pour-over coffee and sit down on my deck with the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. I check out the image of the week. I read the case report with pen in hand, racing to diagnose the patient before the authors spill…
Mannion et al. set out to describe the adult rheumatology workforce in the U.S. by measuring the number of rheumatologists and advanced practice providers entering and exiting the field and studying their demographics.
Methotrexate—an affordable, established drug for rheumatoid arthritis—may also be helpful for patients suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand, a recent study reports.1 Treatment of hand OA and inflammation with 20 mg of methotrexate for six months had a moderate, but potentially clinically meaningful, effect on reducing pain and stiffness in patients with symptomatic hand…
Hoy et al. sought to evaluate the presence, clinical associations, and potential mechanistic roles of circulating calprotectin in a cohort of patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and those with antiphospholipid antibodies. Calprotectin levels were higher in patients with primary APS and those with antiphospholipid antibodies than in healthy controls. These data suggest that calprotectin has the potential to be a functional biomarker and a new therapeutic target for APS-related thrombocytopenia.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is treatable, and for that, we should be grateful. But wouldn’t it be better if we could prevent it from even happening? Recent data from a study in China demonstrated some interesting results. Could an older type of diabetes medication be the answer we’ve been looking for? Background Preclinical studies have suggested…
Frailty & Prefrailty in Patients with RA TNF-α inhibitors associated with higher infection risk By Namrata Singh, MD, MSCI, Katherine D. Wysham, MD, James S. Andrews, MD, & Una E. Makris, MD Why was this study done? Frailty and prefrailty are more common and occur at a younger age in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…
Solomon et al. examined whether a mobile application (app) for patients with rheumatoid arthritis integrated in the electronic health record would be used by patients and rheumatologists.
Difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is defined as the failure of two or more classes of biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to control active or progressive disease in patients with RA. Between 5 and 20% of patients with RA have difficult-to-treat RA.