The HCPLive Rheumatology condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on rheumatologic disease. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for arthritis, gout, nr-AxSpA, and more.
May 14th 2024
Data presented at NKF Spring Clinical Meeting suggest events including myocardial infarction and stroke are more prevalent among patients with lupus in North America.
Study Reveals Potential New Test for Early Osteoarthritis Detection
April 23rd 2010Scientists have discovered new methods for measuring biological markers in the blood, which can be used according to diagnose osteoarthritis earlier, according to a public release from King's College London's Department if Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology.
Why the iPad Will Not Be Used for Healthcare IT
April 15th 2010Some health care IT industry heavyweights have gone so far as to suggest that the iPad will be greatly utilized in the healthcare setting and revolutionize the way we do business. While I do think the iPad is incredibly shiny and is great computer replacement for your grandma, I think it's a bit of an exaggeration to suggest that it will ever be fully adopted by healthcare IT shops.
Hyperchondriasis - a "New Age" Somatoform Disorder
April 13th 2010Modern medicine's technological advances now allow more people to live long enough to develop chronic diseases where the mortality is low but the morbidity high. Hyperchondriacs are acutely aware of this, and perceive great threats in their aging and the future. Hyperchondriacs have similar attributes to hypochondrial patients even as they lack the attendant "symptoms" of a physiologic illness.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia: Moving away from tender points
April 12th 2010Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is not a novel entity-there has been interest in unexplained pain syndromes since antiquity (Figure 1). The earliest research focused on the symptom of “muscle hardenings,” which may be the equivalent of musculoskeletal symptoms that patients with FMS describe today.
Rational Use of Opioid Analgesics in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain
April 11th 2010Throughout history, various forms of morphine have been the most effective medications in relieving pain. Opioid analgesics-the natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic derivatives of morphine-are used routinely in the management of acute musculoskeletal pain. However, myths and misunderstandings about these drugs often prevent primary care physicians from prescribing them for chronic pain, such as that seen in common musculoskeletal conditions (eg, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis [OA], osteoporosis, and low back pain [LBP]). Although pain is one of the most common symptoms that bring patients to the physician’s office, those with chronic musculoskeletal or other noncancer pain all too often are undertreated.
Knee surgery scores points with athletes and older patients with arthritis
April 8th 2010Older patients with advanced knee osteoarthritis (OA) who have undergone total knee replacement (TKR) surgery experience significantly improved dynamic balance in addition to pain relief and improved function, according to a study presented at the recent American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting in New Orleans. In another study, researchers found that patients may participate in high-impact sports activities after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) without increasing the risk of early implant failure-and may even achieve better clinical scores.
Will the iPad Create Solutions in Healthcare?
The highly coveted iPad was released last weekend, and those who were fortunate enough to acquire the new gadget have been quick to discuss what kind of impact it will have on just about any industry. But what kind of impact will the iPad have on healthcare?
Exercise and pregnancy: What patients need to know
April 7th 2010Virtually all health care professionals who responded to a recent survey thought that exercise is good medicine for expecting mothers. However, 60% of the physicians and 86% of the doctors of osteopathy were not familiar with current pregnancy exercise guidelines.
Fracture prediction models are sex- and site-specific
April 6th 2010Prediction of fractures is specific for the patient’s sex and the site of bone mineral density (BMD) measurement. This finding challenges the practice of using similar models-and of measuring BMD at the hip only-to predict fracture risk for men and for women.
Vitamin D deficiency linked with osteoarthritis in older men
April 6th 2010There is a high prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) deficiency in older men who have radiographic hip osteoarthritis (OA). Because 25(OH)D plays a significant role in bone and cartilage maintenance, therapeutic interventions with vitamin D are warranted to augment their skeletal health.
Caution: MRI has low specificity for RA
April 6th 2010MRI abnormalities that resemble rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathologies often are found in the metacarpophalangeal and wrist joints of healthy persons. Although MRI is highly sensitive for tracking the progression of erosions, it has low specificity for RA, suggesting caution in the interpretation of joint lesions on MRI, especially in early arthritis.
Exercise training in the primary care setting reduces patients’ anxiety symptoms
April 6th 2010Exercise training provides an effective means for reducing anxiety symptoms, with minimal risk of adverse events. Anxiety reduction is a favorable outcome of exercise interventions that were designed as a primary treatment or adjuvant for medical conditions other than anxiety.
Comorbidity patterns vary with rheumatologic disease
April 6th 2010Separate patterns of comorbidity are identified in patients who have fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and noninflammatory rheumatic disorders (NIRD). The patterns include the type of comorbid variables reported and their associations with age and disease duration.
Manipulating Notch Pathway may Prove Useful in Treating Bone Diseases
April 5th 2010Scientists have pinpointed and controlled a key molecular component that will keep certain stem cells associated with arthritis and osteoporosis in an extended infancy state, according to a study published online in the journal Development.
Is Healthcare Reform Meaningless without Tort Reform?
March 31st 2010Individuals across the country are either rejoicing, cursing, or anxious over the historic passing of healthcare reform legislation and for physicians and legal experts alike the question remains: What will these changes mean for the practice of medicine and patients' rights?
Study Finds Twitter Is Used to Spread Misinformation about Antibiotics and Other Medical Topics
March 31st 2010Study results published in the American Journal of Infection Control found that Twitter is often used to spread misleading or false information about key healthcare topics, with incorrect information from a single tweet able to reach hundreds of thousands of patients.