Rheumatology

Patients fear the impact of osteoporosis on their quality of life far more than physicians think, according to an International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) survey (Table), but they lack the information and tools needed to address their concerns and improve their osteoporosis management. As a result, the IOF launched a community-based networking program designed to promote better communication among patients with osteoporosis and their physicians and achieve improved understanding and outcomes.

Determining which components of the typical 90-minute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury prevention program work best to reduce injuries is the focus of a new study at the University of Michigan Bone & Joint Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation Center. The researchers suggest that improved efforts in ACL injury prevention could result in improved osteoarthritis (OA) prevention, noting that close to 70% of ACL injuries lead to an early onset of painful OA.

The jump protocol with analysis of time to stabilization (TTS) can discriminate between persons with and those without functional ankle instability (FAI), according to researchers in the Department of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Persons with FAI have delayed trunk muscle reflexes to a sudden perturbation, supporting theoretical and experimental descriptions of proximal adaptations associated with ankle injury.

The mechanism of whiplash injuries remains less than completely understood, partly because obvious tissue damage detectable by radiography or MRI may not accompany the injury, according to researchers at Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, in Chongqing, China.

A new network from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will create a national database that aims to see how rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients respond to different RA drugs, and then use that information to further personalize RA treatment.

Additional analysis showed that reduction and long-term maintenance of normal serum urate levels also reduced risk of future gout flares.

Remember, we have essentially 2 options; All we can do is pick the lesser of the evils. Example: Federal control is bad; corporate control is worse.

Great for healthcare providers, but bad for patients?

The journal Arthritis Research and Therapy has recently published its 10th anniversary issue, “The Scientific Basis of Rheumatology: A Decade of Progress,” which includes 38 articles that review some of “the most important advances in rheumatology research from the past decade.

A handful of abstracts were presented during this session, focusing on the link between fibromyalgia fatigue and kynurenine pathway activity, glutamate in the anterior insula, the effects of fatigue on response to pain, and neurocortical representation of locus of control in patients with fibromyalgia.

During this hour-and-one-half concurrent abstract session, moderated by Jennifer M. Hootman, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atalanta, GA, a half-dozen abstracts were presented, focusing on health-related quality of life among adults with arthritis, the impact of arthritis and other chronic conditions on community participation, quality of non-pharmacologic care for patients with osteoarthritis, social network support, and restrictions in participating in life situations among patients with RA.

Today was the final day of the American College of Rheumatology's 2009 Scientific Meeting. Here are some of the study highlights from the finale.

This morning's presentation on implementing a CARE (Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease Education) Program was comprised of a step-by-step case study. Barbara A. Paliughi, RN, BSN, and Linda L. Miranda, RN, BSN, relayed their experience of getting this type of program off the ground at their place of employment, the Children's Hospital of Central California.

Today was the final day of the American College of Rheumatology's 2009 Scientific Meeting. Here are some of the study highlights from the finale.

Among the numerous posters on display under the "Fibromyalgia and Soft Tissue Disorders" heading on day 4 at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions were posters focused on the development of a fibromyalgia (FM) responder index, anxiety and depression among patients with FM, tai chi as an effective treatment of FM, and sex differences in predictors of increased symptoms after exercise and sleep restriction in patients with such chronic pain disorders as fibromyalgia.

Dozens of posters were presented under the RA umbrella during the morning of day 4 at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions.

In this intimate session, discussion focused on the most recent thoughts regarding the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia and related disorders.

Dozens of posters were presented under the "Fibromyalgia and Soft Tissue Disorders" umbrella during the morning of day 4 at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions. Among the highlights are the following.

Dozens of posters were presented under the RA umbrella during the morning of day 4 at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions.

Objectives for this presentation included identifying biologic agents in the use of RA; discussing the role of TNF inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis; describing the role of B-cells in rheumatoid arthritis; and discussing what advances need to happen in order to better treat this condition.

The ACR's "Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis" campaign has funded research that identified a highly-specific marker of RA, helps predict response to anti-TNF therapy, and improving doctor-patient communication.

The 2009 American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals Scientific Meeting will feature several “Curbside Consult/Ask the Professors” sessions. Designed to feature information and discussion about “difficult management decisions that must be made in the absence of strong data,” these sessions give attendees the opportunity to “compare their personal management approaches” to the clinical problems outlined in the featured vignettes and scenarios with those of “the academic expert consultants and other clinicians in the audience.”

A new study finds that pindolol is highly effective for the treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms manifesting themselves through the autonomic nervous system.

The Monday morning sessions at the 2009 American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals featured several presentations that focused on cognitive functioning in fibromyalgia and lupus.

Researchers examining senior-identified arthritis management strategies were able to identify the most helpful treatment methods as well as the biggest challenges preventing most seniors from engaging in these practices.

Here we recap some of the highlights of today's poster session with a focus on rheumatoid arthritis.

Considering that increasing prevalence of arthritis is expected to outpace the number of specialists available to treat the condition, primary care physicians would do well to consider the experiences and advice of leaders of national Canadian arthritis study groups.

Fibromyalgia is a complex illness, especially when there are some healthcare professionals who do not consider it to be an illness. However, there is a high prevalence of fibromyalgia (3-4.7% of the general population) and patients who have it experience poor quality of life and place a high economic burden on themselves, their families, and society.

The most important risk factors for serious infections were not biologic medications, as some might have expected, but instead were age, medical conditions such as emphysema, and RA-specific factors like disease duration.