News

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending April 23, 2021.

Mindfulness interventions teach and promote the use of psychological skills to improve quality of life among individuals with chronic conditions like rheumatic disease. These interventions largely act by reducing pain-related activation in the sensory cortex and increasing activity in the cingulate cortex, the area of the brain responsible for learning, memory, and processing bodily sensations, like pain.

Investigators discovered that women with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) have an overall higher disease burden and more peripheral manifestations when compared with men. They further theorized that awareness of these differences and the way the condition presents differently in both sexes may be used to more easily identify axSpA and improve disease management.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a poorer prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI) than patients without RA, and longer RA disease duration and glucocorticoid use before MI are associated with higher mortality and recurrent MI.

A majority of studies reported a worsening of disease activity post-delivery.

While further studies are needed, the results indicate that resolving the SDoH issues, via programs like the iCMP, may decrease healthcare costs while equalizing care and outcomes for both patients with SLE and those with complex chronic conditions in general.

Long-term administration of rituximab may be associated with more severe COVID-19 outcomes, including intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death, especially for those with other comorbidities.

A treat-to-target strategy is recommended by the American College of Rheumatology for managing rheumatoid arthritis patients over a non-targeted approach. Test your knowledge of the rationale for treat-to target and how it should be implemented in our quiz.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending April 16, 2021.

A new study finds atorvastatin does not have significant effect versus placebo on treating symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, including cartilage loss.

Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) treated with guselkumab resulted in higher percentages of resolved enthesitis by Week 24 and maintained those results through 1 year when compared with a placebo.

While incidence rates remained stable throughout the study period, incidence rates in females increased 3% per year between 2000 and 2017. The increase was seen primarily in women 40-49 and 50-59.

A study finds low risk of malignancy from secukinumab treatment for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis patients, despite limited data.

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, investigators aimed to evaluate the clinical safety of total glucosides of paeony (TGP) adjuvant therapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

A recent study finds increasing number of women with PsA, but an overall stable incidence of disease compared to previous studies in same population.

Study participants who received combined video and booklet education were more effective in changing self-care behaviors. The education tools additionally provided greater advantages for Spanish-speaking and less-educated patients.

A new study finds educational video and booklets result in increased levels of patient knowledge in managing knee osteoarthritis, particularly among Spanish-speaking and less educated patients.

Patients with psoriasis who either remained on Humira or switched to a biosimilar showed similar retention rates and efficacy/safety data.

Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) also have diabetes mellitus, which can have an impact on their RA disease and its treatment. Test your knowledge of diabetes in RA with this quiz.

A case-controlled study of 60 patients in the United Kingdom found presence neuropathy contributes to fracture risk in patients with type 1 diabetes but found other factors play a role in the increased risk among these patients.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending April 2, 2021.

COVID-19 has created new challenges and opportunities in the way that rheumatologists care for chronically ill patients, including the introduction and prevalence of telemedicine and digital health applications (DHAs).

Mortality rates were similar in COVID-19 patients with and without chronic inflammatory diseases.

While some patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) find it beneficial to receive anti-inflammatory therapy to treat their fatigue, there is increasingly more evidence that chronic diseases increase risk of psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression, which need to be treated differently.

Recently, a link between venous thromboembolism (VTE) and Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitors has emerged, causing the FDA to recommend a black box label for tofacitinib in 2019. New research, however, suggests that tofacitinib had similarly infrequent cases of VTE (<1 per 100) when compared with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFIs).

Despite lower length of stays, costs of hip fracture surgeries have been on the rise in recent years and a new study suggests it could be linked to increased hospital charges rather than increased surgeon charges.

Investigators identified both facilitators and barriers for trial participation in patients at risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in order to enhance inclusion in trials designed to prevent RA.

The difficult-to-treat disease has a multitude of symptoms to address with a wide spectrum of agents.

A meta-analysis notes that relative risk for stroke was high for rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and gout.