Sternoclavicular joint involvement has rarely been reported in the context of active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 Traditionally, rheumatologists use serial radiographs of hands and feet to diagnose, monitor for progression or evaluate the response to treatment. The sternoclavicular (SC) joint is not a typical joint assessed for RA. However, the fact that it is a diarthrodial…
Two years ago, at the age of 102, rheumatologist Ephraim P. Engleman, MD, FACR, FACP, published a memoir, My Century, in which he detailed his personal and professional accomplishments, as well as his secrets to longevity. With his characteristic sense of humor, Dr. Engleman noted that the first secret to a long life is to…
San Francisco is known for the Gold Rush, so it’s a particularly fitting place to collect a gold nugget. And so at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in the Golden Gate City in November, the ACR and the ARHP honored a group of distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and…
James K. Smith, MD, believes in thinking several moves ahead. Consider your opponent. Gauge your strategy. Be aggressive when you need to be. Those are key aspects of his philosophy in rheumatology—and chess. Initiation Dr. Smith’s love of chess started after he had started his family. “I first got involved in the game through my…
“Treat to target regardless of disease activity level” tops the list of recommendations for both early and established RA in the 2015 Guideline for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. The guideline addresses six major topics, including DMARDs, glucocorticoids and biologics, and includes 74 recommendations. These recommendations are not prescriptive, and the treatment decisions should be made by physicians and patients together…
Seven students pursuing rheumatology-related careers will head to San Francisco in November on a Student and Resident ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting Scholarship—awards that are open to students and residents from states that are underserved by rheumatology professionals. The Rheumatology Research Foundation has awarded the students $750–1,500 toward travel expenses and registration for the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting,…
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters)—In recent days, the largest U.S. managers of private prescription drug benefits have cut off at least eight pharmacies that work closely with drugmakers, intensifying scrutiny of a system that helps inflate drug prices, officials at the benefit managers told Reuters. The terminations come from payers who together manage drug benefits for…
In the late 1990s, Thomas Baranowski, PhD, professor of pediatrics specializing in nutrition at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, applied for a grant. For years, he had been interested in finding ways to get children to change their diet and physical activity. He decided to try a video game, and he got the money…
I am a few weeks post-retirement. Having written thank you notes and completed urgent home projects, I swing in a hammock at our currently fire-threatened cabin north of Winthrop, Wash., and reflect. I feel like a young boy while freely flipping pages of a hand-scribed picture book, The Principles of Uncertainty, by Maira Kalman. She…
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) announced the availability of its 2015 Guideline for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) during the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Francisco. An early draft of the recommendations was presented at last year’s meeting in Boston, and the final recommendations are now available on the ACR website. The…