With no FDA-approved drugs for Sjögren’s disease, experts share strategies for managing fatigue, arthritis, dryness, and systemic issues.
Sjögren’s Dry Eye Requires Collaboration Among Eye Doctors, Rheumatologists
Sjögren’s dry eye requires collaboration between rheumatologists and ophthalmologists for optimal patient management and treatment of this quality-of-life issue.
Emerging Therapies for Antiphospholipid Syndrome, an Antibody-Mediated Disease
A recent A&R review explores innovative, emerging therapies for the currently incurable, antibody-mediated disease antiphospholipid syndrome.
When to Check Drug Levels & Why
Checking blood levels of commonly used disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) has gained widespread attention in the rheumatology community, even resulting in a recent guidance document from EULAR for biologics.1 Although a highly useful tool, drug level measurement in rheumatology is not without challenges; many of our drugs violate the basic principles of pharmacology that we…
Dr. Blair Solow’s Picks for the Top RA Research Presented at ACR Convergence 2020
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Held Nov. 5–9, the ACR’s first fully virtual annual meeting provided participants with a vast repository of new research related to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To help you sort through the noise, Elizabeth (Blair) Solow, MD, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, offered …
Rheumatology in the Age of COVID-19: HCQ Shortages Driven by Small, Nonrandomized Study
No data exist for prescribing hydroxychloroquine for post-exposure prophylaxis, and we should not prescribe it for this indication.
Is Hydroxychloroquine Helpful for Patients with Antiphospholipid Syndrome?
Hydroxychloroquine is not currently used to treat patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). But new research in APS-induced mice shows hydroxychloroquine may improve endothelium-dependent dilation and reduce reactive oxygen species generation…
HCQ Debate: Should Dose Be No More Than 5 mg/kg in All SLE Patients?
Multiple studies show that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has many benefits in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), including cardiovascular benefits, such as reducing coronary artery and thrombosis risks. HCQ can prevent disease flares, including in renal and central nervous system lupus, and is the only drug shown to prolong survival in lupus. However, guidelines released in 2016 by…
Promote Pregnancy Wellness: Data Can Help Guide Pregnancy Management in Lupus
AMSTERDAM—Clinicians who are counseling women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have the benefit of an array of new insights into factors linked with increased risk of pregnancy loss, how SLE therapies affect pregnancy and data on outcomes of children born to mothers with SLE, an expert said in a session at EULAR: the Annual European…
Hydroxychloroquine Risk-Benefit Discussion, & a Handy Dosage App
CHICAGO—As good an option as hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is for many patients with rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and especially lupus, safety must be an important consideration, an expert said at this April’s ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium. The use of the antimalarial has become a controversial subject, with clinicians trying to balance the drug’s disease-modifying…