ACR Convergence 2025| Video: Rheuminations on Milestones & Ageism

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Search results for: physical function

Exercise Therapy Recommended to Manage Knee Osteoarthritis

Allyn Bove, PT, DPT, & G. Kelley Fitzgerald, PT, PhD, FAPTA  |  

The benefits of exercise therapy for individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) are well known. The ACR strongly recommends both aquatic exercise and land-based aerobic and resistance exercise for managing knee OA.1 A recent Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis concluded that high-quality evidence supports the use of exercise to reduce pain and improve physical function and…

Rheumatology Drug Updates: Labeling for Fluoroquinolones; FDA to Review Benzhydrocodone/Acetaminophen Combination

  |  

FDA Restricts Fluoroquinolone Use The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has twice previously communicated safety information about systemic fluoroquinolones—in August 2013 and July 2008. The safety issues of this medication class described in its latest Drug Safety Communication were also discussed at a November 2015 FDA Advisory Committee meeting.1 The FDA is now advising…

Certolizumab Combo Helps Curb RA Damage

David Douglas  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Certolizumab pegol (Cimzia, UCB Pharma) in combination with methotrexate does better than methotrexate alone in certain patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to one-year results from a new trial. As Dr. Paul Emery of the University of Leeds, UK, explains in an email to Reuters Health, “This study used a unique…

Osteoarthritis Treatments: Monoclonal Antibody Starts Clinical Trial & Fasinumab Promising for Treating Pain

  |  

Recent clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy of GSK3196165, a monoclonal antibody, and fasinumab, a nerve growth factor antibody, in treating patients with osteoarthritis and pain…

Tofacitinib Promising for Psoriatic Arthritis & FDA Issues Alert for Warning for Saxagliptin & Alogliptin Diabetes Treatments

  |  

A recent Phase 3 study found tofacitinib safe and effective for treating psoriatic arthritis at both 5 mg and 10 mg doses compared with placebo. And the FDA has added label warnings to saxagliptin and alogliptin for an increased risk of heart failure in individuals taking the drugs, particularly in those with heart and kidney disease…

Ustekinumab Improves Spondylitis in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The anti-interleukin (IL)-12/IL-23 monoclonal antibody ustekinumab improves signs and symptoms of spondylitis in patients with psoriatic arthritis, according to a post-hoc analysis of data from the PSUMMIT-1 and PSUMMIT-2 trials. “This treatment did seem to have a benefit on axial symptoms,” Dr. Arthur Kavanaugh from the University of California San Diego, La…

Self-Reported Knee Instability After Surgery Linked to Pain & Limited Mobility

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

Patients with osteoarthritis often consider total knee replacement surgery to resolve pain and increase mobility. However, a recent study found that self-reported knee instability and pain are prevalent in patients both before and after primary unilateral total knee replacement surgery. One-third of the study’s participants still had knee instability after surgery, experiencing knee buckling and shifting associated with pain and limited activity. Using physical performance measurements, researchers linked self-reported knee instability following surgery to pain and poor lower-extremity muscle strength…

Hospital for Special Surgery Focuses on Measuring, Adding Value

  |  

Value is the ratio of quality to cost. The delivery and measurement of healthcare quality, however, is complex. “We first need to understand and define the health outcomes that are important to patients. Then we need to put into place care pathways that will lead to those outcomes, and finally we need mechanisms to measure…