How are comorbidities for RA patients managed outside of rheumatology? A recent Canadian study developed and assessed quality measures related to preventive care and screenings for RA patients in a primary care setting, comparing RA and non-RA patients. The results: Primary care physicians often provide similar levels of care to patients with and without RA. But RA patients were less likely to receive some cancer screenings and all necessary tests to assess their cardiovascular risk…
Obesity & Rheumatic Disease
“Obesity is an inflammatory state, so it is in the landscape of the rheumatologist,” says Christopher Ritchlin, MD, MPH. And the more attention rheumatologists pay to obesity, the better…
Insight into Infectious Diseases Could Lead to Preventive Vaccines for Some Rheumatic Illnesses
CHICAGO—Medicine is in the middle of an infectious-disease “revolution” that seems almost destined to lead to prevention through immunization of many diseases, including rheumatic illnesses, that never were previously thought to involve transmissible agents, an infectious disease specialist said in a session at the ACR’s 2016 State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium. An array of unlikely and fascinating…