A pediatric rheumatologist diagnosed with RA following the birth of her first child talks about integrative care & offers tips for helping patients reduce the symptom burden.Â
Research from Choi et al. provides insights into the risk of infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), comparing patients treated with Janus kinase inhibitors vs. tumor necrosis inhibitors. The most frequent infection was herpes zoster, with patients treated with JAK inhibitors having a significantly greater risk of herpes zoster infection than those treated with TNF inhibitors.
A study has shown that in untreated patients with early RA, treatment with methotrexate combined with the biologic therapies abatacept or certolizumab-pegol resulted in greater CDAI remission rates than active conventional therapy with prednisolone, sulfasalazine or hydroxychloroquine.
With many new agents designed to treat PsA, rheumatologists and patients have options. Schwartzman et al. examined the real-world use of different treatments and ranked patient medication preferences.
Although effective against rheumatic disease, biologic therapies come with hefty price tags. Patient assistance programs can be a useful resource to help under- and uninsured patients get the drugs they need.
University of Chicago Medicine: Lauren He, MD; & Cuoghi Edens, MD |
A study was able to quantify the transference of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors from mother to fetus during pregnancy. Overall, the researchers found low levels of transfer for the treatments studied.
Over the past few years, biosimilars and other new drugs have been introduced to treat rheumatic illnesses. Some of the conditions we treat have numerous drug options; others have few or only off-label options. This series, Rheumatology Drugs at a Glance, provides streamlined information on the administration of biologic, biosimilar and other medications used to…
Ghalandari et al. sought to validate the guidance outlined by EULAR for the use of anti-rheumatic drugs during pregnancy, finding that following its guidance for tumor necrosis factor inhibitors led to no or low concentrations of these agents in cord blood.
About 30% of patients with psoriasis have psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a complex, multi-faceted, chronic, inflammatory musculoskeletal and skin disease for which the treatment has changed considerably over the past few years.1 Biosimilars and other new drugs have become a therapeutic turning point for many patients suffering from rheumatic illnesses, including PsA. The treatment of PsA…