Indigenous communities in Latin America lack good healthcare—and often lack any healthcare—for musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases.1 Global health initiatives tend to focus on infectious disease, despite the increasing rate of chronic diseases. In a survey of 6,155 individuals from eight indigenous communities, conducted by a team of Latin American investigators, the prevalence of these conditions…
“Don’t believe everything you think,” said Allan Lokos, the founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center located in New York City’s upper west side. These words may be especially important for those dealing with chronic pain, finds new multicenter research. The study, “Trajectories of Fear-Avoidance Beliefs on Physical Activity Over Two Years in…
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…
Sir William Osler, the father of modern medicine, said “the desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature that separates man from animal.” Determination of the benefit of a medication can be challenging and includes a number of factors, such as pharmacologic activities on the disease pathophysiology, pharmacokinetic properties and patient characteristics.1,2 An additional,…
Researchers in Demark studied joints of young adult athletes to better understand the difference in bone marrow edema common in healthy people vs. what is experienced by patients with spondyloarthritis, a serious inflammatory condition of the spine and sacroiliac joints. Early recognition of spondylo-arthritis can be tricky because it can be confused with symptoms and…
A 67-year-old man with a recent onset of diffuse muscular pain and stiffness and an erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 55 is referred to you by his family practitioner. He has a history of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, but no history of headaches or swollen joints. He has chronic back pain, has had two surgeries and was…
SAN JOSE, Calif., (Reuters)—At its Silicon Valley headquarters, network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc. is going to unusual lengths to take control of the relentless increase in its U.S. healthcare costs. The company is among a handful of large American employers who are getting more deeply involved in managing their workers’ health instead of looking…
Denosumab is now approved to treat adults with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis…
After an independent review, ongoing clinical trials investigating the safety of fasinumab for treating hip or knee OA will discontinue the use of higher fasinumab doses…
A study identified denosumab as a useful treatment for patients initiating or continuing glucocorticoids who are at risk for fractures. Denosumab had clinical effects similar to risedronate but was more effective than risedronate in the improvement of bone mineral density at the lumbar spine…