The controversy over vitamin D is hearty enough to confuse even seasoned rheumatologists, says Nathan Wei, MD, The Arthritis Treatment Center, Frederick, Md. “It’s like what you hear with coffee. One week, [a study finds] coffee is … good for you; the next week, there’s a study saying it’s bad for you,” he says. Vitamin…
People diagnosed with osteoporosis have almost twice the risk of developing hearing loss as those without the bone-fragile skeletal disease, according to results from a large retrospective study in Taiwan. The study looked at the risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) using data collected from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance claims and is believed to…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Growth hormone is associated with a decrease in fractures in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis even a decade after treatment ceases, researchers from Sweden report. “We were surprised and pleased to find that the patients had a reduced risk of fracture so many years after the growth hormone treatment was ceased,” Dr. Emily…
(Reuters Health)—Women who have pregnancies less than a year apart may have a greater risk for osteoporosis later in life than those who wait longer between babies, a study suggests. Researchers compared the reproductive histories of 239 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis to 298 similar women without thinning bones. Pregnancies no more than 12 months apart…
In a 25 month Phase 3 trial, abaloparatide-SC reduced the risk of new fractures in patients suffering from postmenopausal osteoporosis. Plus, the FDA launches a new drug safety website.
(Reuters Health)—Media reports raising safety concerns about osteoporosis drugs known as bisphosphonates may have contributed to a sharp drop in their use—even though U.S. doctors and drug regulators haven’t recommended against taking them, a study suggests. Fosamax (alendronate sodium) won U.S. marketing approval in 1995. Widespread use of the drug and others like it over…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—In postmenopausal osteoporotic women, changing from teriparatide to denosumab benefits bone mineral density (BMD) but switching from denosumab to teriparatide may result in bone loss, according to new research. In a July 3 online paper in The Lancet, Dr. Benjamin Z. Leder, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues noted that many…
Recognizing, reducing risk of bone fractures in pediatric patients with rheumatic disease, taking glucocorticoid therapy
Proper coding for cases of drug-induced gout, systemic lupus erythematosus with lung involvement, inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis
Coding cases of drug-induced gout, systemic lupus erythematosus with lung involvement, inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis