Nationally, opioid use and addiction are drawing increased scrutiny. An increase in the number of overdoses and addiction to heroin and prescription pain relievers in the past decade has been attributed in part to increased prescribing of opioids for the treatment of pain by physicians. National trends suggest the rate of opioid prescribing plateaued in…
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How Global Geographic Disparities Affect Healthcare Outcomes
Your home & your health: Does geography impact medicine? Does it matter whether a region is surrounded by large bodies of water, encircled by towering mountain peaks or that its residents share a common ancestry? Consider Switzerland, a nation with a highly developed economy replete with advanced technological and medical infrastructure. Despite these advantages, less…
A Stiff Man: A Case Study in Ankylosing Spondylitis
First Appearances I watched the old man, his back painfully bent, shuffle toward the scale. A blocky rigidity draped over him. His feet seemed stuck to the floor. His head hung heavily over his chest. Observing him from the end of the hallway, instead of a face, I saw only a mound of shaggy, matted…
Rheumatologists Treating Patients with HIV Face Treatment, Diagnostic Challenges
Rheumatologists treating HIV patients in 2017 must think through many important factors as this population ages. As we continue to learn, rheumatologists must consider important drug–drug interactions, relatively uncommon rheumatological presentations of HIV, as well as specific diagnostic challenges. Working closely with infectious disease specialists is the best way to achieve optimum care for this…
Prospects for Treating Patients with Arthritis in African Countries with Few Rheumatologists
At present, the U.S. has approximately 5,000 full-time adult rheumatologists. By the year 2025, that number will decline to roughly 3,600.1 Sounds dire, right? Hold that thought. Question: What country has 99 million people and no adult rheumatologists? Answer: Ethiopia.2 The Nigerian Story And then there is Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, with roughly 170…
Rheumatologists Respond to Prescription Opioid Analgesic Crisis
The alarming statistics on prescription opioid overdoses are well known to medical professionals, thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s widely cited finding that deaths from opioid analgesics have increased fourfold since 1999.1 Half of all fatal drug overdoses now involve opioids prescribed by a doctor. Meanwhile, a lack of rigorous research…
Opioid Use Common Even After Minor Surgery
(Reuters Health)—The risk that surgery patients will become chronic opioid users may be similar after minor procedures or major operations, a U.S. study suggests. Three to six months after surgery, new chronic opioid use was about 5.9% with minor operations and 6.5% with major surgery, the study found. The rate was just 0.4% in people…
FDA Drug Labeling, Approval Process Help Minimize Lawsuits Against Pharmaceutical Companies
Like many people, I am up early and in the gym most days. Although I don’t seem to get anywhere new on the stationary bicycle or the elliptical machine, I do get to keep up with the pundits on the early morning talk shows. In contrast to the television series I binge on later in…
Anti-Interleukin-6 Therapy for Erdheim-Chester Disease Warrants Study
Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare, non-Langerhan’s cell histiocytosis characterized by tissue infiltration of CD68-positive and CD1a-negative foamy histiocytes.1 ECD was discovered as a lipid granulomatosis in 1930 by Jakob Erdheim and his pupil, William Chester, and approximately 500 cases have been described to date.1 ECD has a heterogeneous course and prognosis ranging from an…
‘Booster Sessions’ May Help Older Adults Stick with Arthritis Exercises
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—”Booster sessions” with a physiotherapist help older adults with osteoarthritis keep doing their exercises, a new systematic review and meta-analysis suggests. “There is strong evidence for the benefits of exercise for people with osteoarthritis or chronic low back pain. However, multiple studies have shown adherence to exercise declines over time, and the…
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