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Regardless of BMI level, having a genetic susceptibility for gout may be a stronger predictor of disease than weight, say researchers writing in Arthritis and Rheumatology this week.

Neither intermittent nor daily dosing of vitamin D alone was associated with reduced risk of fracture, but daily supplementation with both vitamin D and calcium showed promise in a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.

Neither intermittent nor daily dosing of vitamin D alone was associated with reduced risk of fracture, but daily supplementation with both vitamin D and calcium showed promise in a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.

Findings of a phase 3 clinical trial show that patients who take a 15 mg or 30 mg dose achieved higher ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70 scores than those who had a placebo.

Women with rheumatoid arthritis who adhered to a defined program involving diagnostic, therapeutic, and prenatal care recommendations restored the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes to that expected in the general population, say researchers recently writing in Arthritis Care & Research.

A 20-month-old boy with skin peeling, a strawberry red tongue and swelling of the hands and feet. Can you diagnose this patient?

In patients with moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), anifrolumab (AstraZeneca) was superior to placebo for improving overall disease activity, skin disease and oral corticosteroid tapering, say researchers writing in the New England Journal of Medicine.

There is insufficient evidence to support long-term effects on pain and functioning of low-dose radiation therapy for hand and knee osteoarthritis, say researchers writing in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Simple hip motion tests and observing for pain during that motion were helpful in identifying patients most likely to have hip osteoarthritis on plain radiography, say researchers recently writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, high-dose trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (HD-TIV) is safe and more immunogenic than standard-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine (SD-QIV), say researchers writing in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Probiotic supplementation using a mix of three Lactobacillus strains naturally occurring in the human gut microbiota protects against lumbar spine bone loss in healthy, early postmenopausal women, say researchers recently writing in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Compared with other antihypertensive medications, amlodipine was found to reduce risk of gout in older patients.

Probiotic supplementation using a mix of three Lactobacillus strains naturally occurring in the human gut microbiota protects against lumbar spine bone loss in healthy, early postmenopausal women, say researchers recently writing in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Apremilast (Otezla, Celgene) resulted in a greater reduction in the number of oral ulcers associated with Behçet’s syndrome than placebo, say researchers recently writing in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A diagnosis of hidradenitis suppurativa may precede the development of ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis in patients, say researchers writing in the January 22 issue of JAMA Dermatology.

The placebo response in clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis appears to have grown over the last two decades with patients exhibiting significant improvements in pain scores with placebo treatment.

Treatment with the recently approved oral, selective JAK-1 inhibitor upadacitinib (Rinvoq, AbbVie) resulted in significant improvements in various patient-reported outcomes among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis who have had inadequate responses to biologic DMARDs, researchers report in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Psoriatic arthritis patients with moderate disease activity were more likely to reach treatment targets or low disease activity at week 52 with apremilast (Otezla, Celgene) than patients with high disease activity, researchers report in the January 7 issue of Arthritis Care and Research.

Patients and doctors still haven't fully invested in the use of biosimilars, despite a steady rise in the cost of biologics, shows a new report by Harvard researchers. 

Patients with osteoarthritis participated in the development of the guideline updates for the first time ever.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in partnership with the Arthritis Foundation, has issued treatment guidelines for osteoarthritis of the hand, hip and knee. This is the first update since 2012.

In patients with ankylosing spondylitis receiving treatment with non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), timely therapeutic strategies should be implemented in order to manage gastrointestinal risk, say researchers recently writing in the International Journal of Rheumatic Disease.

Secukinumab (Cosentyx, Novartis) provided sustained improvements through five years in the signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis with no new safety signals, say researchers recently writing in ACR Open Rheumatology.

Investigators identified 7 healthcare quality indicators, “the ideal clinical pathway,” for patients with rheumatoid arthritis to reduce the risk of birth complications.

A 62-year-old woman complained to her doctor about joint pain in her fingers. The joints in her fingers were warm, tender, and slightly swollen. Can you diagnose this patient?

A look back at the developments and interviews that caught the most attention this year.

Frailty score, age and C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with mortality in elderly patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, say researchers writing in Rheumatology this fall.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved rituximab (Rituxan, Genentech) for the treatment of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) in children 2 years of age and older in combination with glucocorticoids, to fulfil an unmet medical need for these rare and serious diseases in children.

Nearly one third of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus use prescription opioids, with around two thirds of those using opioids for more than a year, while emergency department use is associated with increased prescription opioid use, say researchers writing in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report in Septmeber.

A Quality Improvement (QI) method called Lean A3 helped improve and sustain opioid prescribing within an ambulatory rheumatology clinic, say researchers writing in ACR Open Rheumatology last month.