“Obesity is an inflammatory state, so it is in the landscape of the rheumatologist,” says Christopher Ritchlin, MD, MPH. And the more attention rheumatologists pay to obesity, the better…


“Obesity is an inflammatory state, so it is in the landscape of the rheumatologist,” says Christopher Ritchlin, MD, MPH. And the more attention rheumatologists pay to obesity, the better…
Arthritis Care & Research |
In 2014, the ACR launched the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE), a national electronic health record (EHR)-enabled registry. The goal: To help participating rheumatologists and practices leverage the new wave of big data created by the use of EHR, advance research and improve overall quality of care. A new analysis examines the RISE structure and the initial patient data collected by the registry…

Beverly Johnson, MD, has experienced exactly how rheumatologists and their patients benefit from musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging for the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disease…
Serum uric acid (UA) is an important factor in the causal pathway for gout. It has also been implicated as a potential risk factor and/or mediator of cardiovascular disease outcomes and mortality in a large number of observational studies. Although many of the clinical trials targeting serum UA reduction have focused on pharmacologic interventions, diet…

“Yes sir.” That was the response of Raymond Scalettar, MD, DSc, FACP, when his commanding officer told him the U.S. Army wanted him to switch specialties—from gastroenterology to rheumatology. There was only one problem. Dr. Scalettar wasn’t exactly sure what that would entail. That was the mid-1950s. Back then, rheumatology was barely out of the womb. Residency…

Mary Abraham, MD, MBA, with Frehyiwot Ayele, MD |
The first month of my last year of rheumatology fellowship began in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at Black Lion Hospital, a tertiary university medical center, where I [Dr. Mary Abraham] started an Emory-sponsored global health rotation. Although a very different beginning to my fellowship year, my experiences at Black Lion reminded me of my passion to…

All athletes—amateur and professional—should understand their risks for developing injury-related arthritis. Rheumatologists and other physicians at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York take a rapid approach to treating athletes, often considering intense physical therapy, innovative treatments and surgery much sooner than for the average patient—all to keep joints healthy and enable athletes to play for as long as possible…

To speed the development of tocilizumab to treat giant cell arteritis (GCA), the FDA designated it as a breakthrough therapy earlier this month…

From its beginnings as the Rheumatic Diseases Study Group (RDSG) in the early 1930s, NYU Langone Medical Center’s Division of Rheumatology has been built on a tradition of research and clinical care. Today’s division, with 24 full-time and 76 part-time faculty members, continues to push toward understanding the pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases and interventions to…

It’s not uncommon for a new patient to arrive at the medical offices of Alan Schenk, MD, in Laguna Woods, Calif., and immediately ask him about his musical career. In addition to being a board-certified rheumatologist for the past 32 years, Dr. Schenk is also an accomplished acoustic jazz guitarist and mandolin player. Music First “I…