Physicians have been puzzled by the role of benign joint hypermobility syndrome in the development of gastrointestinal disorders and other autonomic symptoms and co-morbidities. However, new research found that benign joint hypermobility syndrome only minimally affects autonomic abnormalities…
Inflammation in the knee was found to be associated with development of pain sensitization in recent research with a cohort from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST). This research finding may indicate that targeting of inflammation could help reduce pain severity in knee osteoarthritis (OA). Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD, says that her and her colleagues’ research,…
For people in whom symptoms of Lyme disease persist beyond the standard course of two to four weeks of antibiotic therapy, longer term antibiotic treatment provides no additional benefits beyond the shorter term course. This is the conclusion of a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that builds on a number…
Outside Exam Room No. 5, the chart rack was empty, so I assumed my new consult was late. Just in case, I looked back over my shoulder as I passed by the partially open door and glimpsed the lower half of a woman holding a three-ringed binder on her lap. I squinted and took a…
A recent review has expanded the current thinking about the benefits of exercise therapy for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Study participants experienced improved sleep, physical function and self-perceived general health…
Look inside the oral cavity of a patient for answers that go beyond what we perceive as the dentist’s domain. So goes the thinking of medical professionals interested in how oral health and bacteria-driven disease, such as periodontitis, may be linked to rheumatic disease, especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Bad bacteria that live in the mouth…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Cephalon has reached a $125 million settlement with 48 states in connection with its alleged efforts to delay generic versions of its blockbuster sleep disorder drug modafinil (Provigil) from entering the market, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Thursday. The settlement with Cephalon, now owned by Teva Pharmaceuticals, comes a little more…
CHICAGO—Nine out of 10 scleroderma cases include clinical signs of gastrointestinal (GI) involvement, with severe involvement associated with high mortality rates, but the pathology of this is not very well understood, a GI expert said at the ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium. That has left clinicians with a slate of treatments—anti-reflux, antimicrobials and prokinetics—that address only…
A recent JAMA Pediatrics article found that 83% of clinicians admitted to coming to work while sick and 95% admitted to knowing that it could be dangerous for their patients.1 “The decision to work sick is shaped by systems-level and sociocultural factors,” the study authors wrote. In speaking with rheumatologists on the matter, I found…
SAN FRANCISCO—A broadening of the medical community’s horizons in how pain is regarded and treated in older adults, including those with osteoarthritis and other rheumatic diseases, is sorely needed, a researcher said at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Incidence Studies show that a large percentage of older adults each year see physicians for such issues…