News

Vaccinating the Autoimmune Patient

DMARDs for autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases have both revolutionized treatment and increased the risk for infections. These patients should be considered for vaccination with the recommendation of a rheumatologist.

Corticosteroid Use Excessive in IBD

Almost 15 percent of patients with inflammatory bowel disease showed evidence of excessive steroid use or dependency, and in half of these cases this excess was potentially avoidable, say researchers writing in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics this month.

Exposure to Multiple Industrial Air Pollutants Linked to RA Biomarker

Exposure to industrial emissions of fine particles matter and sulfur dioxide are associated with the presence of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), a characteristic biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in Atlanta on November 12.

New Treatment Option for Ulcerative Colitis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ustekinumab (Stelara, Janssen) for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, a condition that affects approximately 910,000 adults in the U.S.

Surgery Rate Doubles in Psoriatic Arthritis

Patients with psoriatic arthritis have twice the rate of joint surgery when compared with the general population, with one-third of patients with this condition undergoing joint surgery, say researchers writing in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases this month.

Image IQ:  Smooth plaques with pain and itch

A 56-year-old woman with a history of celiac disease visited her doctor after a number of firm, smooth plaques developed over the course of a couple of weeks. The plaques manifested as yellow and pink, but then changed to a reddish color. What's the diagnosis?

Opioid use among patients with rheumatoid arthritis is prevalent, and while there is a small decrease in overall opioid use after tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor initiation, newly initiated opioid use after TNF inhibitor initiation may reflect an unmet need in pain management, say researchers writing in Rheumatology and Therapy this month.

COPD Triples Mortality Risk in RA

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a large comorbidity burden at the time of diagnosis, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and interstitial lung disease, but COPD is a particular concern, say researchers writing in Rheumatology this month.

A review in the journal Lupus examines treatments for primary and secondary thromboprophylaxis in patients with anti-phospholipid autoantibodies (aPL) and a history of thrombosis, which can affect more than 50 percent of people with systemic lupus erythematosus.