In 2004, the British Medical Journal published an article titled, “Resisting Cookbook Medicine,” which looked askance at the “routine use of predetermined directives” in clinical practice because it reduced doctors to practicing so-called cookbook medicine and eroded the art of medicine.1 Fast forward 15 years, and we find our appetite for “predetermined directives”—what we now…
It’s often said the eyes are the window to the soul, and in the case of ankylosing spondylitis and other spondyloarthropathies, one can also say the eyes are the window to systemic disease. Although uveitis occurs in approximately 2–5% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease, 6–9% of patients with psoriatic arthritis and 25% of patients…
Data from two phase 3 studies were used to support the FDA’s approval of ixekizumab for adults with ankylosing spondylitis…
Pain can deter patients with rheumatic disease from engaging in physical activity. But the latest research shows exercise helps reduce pain, & other influences may also affect patients’ activity levels, particularly after surgery…
CHICAGO—Every minute, it seems, a new digital tool is introduced in medicine. Whether it’s a new digital measuring stick, a new data-crunching system or a new app, the tech tools form an endless convoy of options. But are they worth it? Will they really help you do your job better? Will they help patients feel…
Presentation A 26-year-old man with a history of acne vulgaris and hidradenitis suppurativa presented to our rheumatology clinic with persistent back pain and stiffness of three years’ duration. He described bilateral low back pain that was worse when he arose in the morning and at night when he was trying to sleep. In a similar…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Ixekizumab improves signs and symptoms in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (ankylosing spondylitis), according to results from the COAST-W study. “Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic and debilitating disease, and I have a large number of patients who have failed TNF inhibitors,” says Dr. Atul Deodhar from Oregon Health and Science University, Portland….
AMSTERDAM—As more biosimilar drugs for rheumatic diseases make their way to market, evidence is growing that switching from the originator drug to a biosimilar tends to be effective, while the questions of switching back and forth, and switching multiple times using several different biosimilars, remain to be answered, an expert on the topic said at…
Technology in medicine is no longer new or trendy. It’s pervasive. Rheumatologists may now assume a patient has searched online for information about his or her diagnosis or potential therapies. Both physicians and rheumatology health professionals should acknowledge their patients’ Internet surfing and find out what they’ve read, says Betsy Roth-Wojcicki, RN, MS, CPNP, an…
In a Phase 3 study, ixekizumab proved safe and effective to treat adults with ankylosing spondylitis (AS)…