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.
April 22nd 2024
Prolonged modified fasting, in a multimodal medical approach, may help patients with fibromyalgia improve pain and psychosomatic symptoms.
"REEL" Time Patient Counseling™: Integrating Biosimilars into the Clinical Conversation
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Cases and Conversations™: Keeping Up with Novel Approaches to Managing ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
November 2024
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EGPA: Highlighting the Patient Journey to Improve the Differential Diagnosis and Accelerate the Initiation of Guideline-Based Care
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Expert Illustrations & Commentaries™: Envisioning Novel Therapeutic Approaches to Managing ANCA-associated Vasculitis
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Clinical Consultations™: Optimal Approaches to Recognizing and Treating ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
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Running barefoot: A natural step for reducing injuries?
July 11th 2009Metatarsalgia, fractures, plantar fasciitis, neuromas, blisters, black toenail-easily preventable or inherent, readily manageable or hard to heal, acute or chronic, these are just a few of the maladies that make runners ask, "Why does my foot hurt?" Both runners and researchers seeking answers are taking a close look at barefoot running.
Biomechanical factors contribute to the study of RA
July 10th 2009The impact of biomechanical factors on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has gained increased attention from researchers, as evidenced by studies reported in Clinical Biomechanics. For example, reevaluating knee kinematics over time is important in patients with RA who wear a mobile-bearing total knee prosthesis, according to investigators at the Biomechanics and Imaging Group, Department of Orthopaedics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Whiplash recovery expectations predict recovery
July 9th 2009A patient’s expectations for recovery from a whiplash-associated disorder (WAD), measured in the first 6 weeks after a traffic-related WAD, predict actual recovery. Pain recovery and resolution of pain-related limitations show a similar pattern.
Prevent musculoskeletal pain by addressing psychosocial factors
July 9th 2009Persons in consistently good musculoskeletal health-those who do not report musculoskeletal pain-often demonstrate low levels of psychosocial problems, such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, traumatic experiences, and somatization.
Managing spondyloarthritis: Focus on physical morbidity
July 9th 2009Functional limitations are greater and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is poorer in persons who have spondyloarthritis (SpA) than in those who do not, even after adjustment for age, sociodemographics, and comorbidities. Many factors are modifiable (eg, severity and duration of disease, response to current therapy, treatment-related adverse effects, medical comorbidity, socioeconomic factors), and targeted interventions may improve function and HRQOL in patients with SpA.
Combination therapy in early RA provides lasting benefit
July 9th 2009For patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), starting therapy with a combination of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) improves long-term outcomes without an increase in adverse events. The combination of methotrexate, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine plus prednisolone is satisfactory for most patients.
Acupuncture for low back pain: Real no better than sham
July 9th 2009Acupuncture-like treatments significantly improve function in persons with chronic low back pain compared with usual care. However, the beneficial and persisting effects of real acupuncture needling may be no greater than those of noninsertive stimulation.
What Pay for Performance Means for Musculoskeletal Medicine
June 8th 2009ABSTRACT: Pay for performance (P4P) is causing physicians to examine how they provide care individually and collectively within local health systems. It is the most recent attempt by Medicare and commercial payers to reduce the cost and improve the outcomes of health care. Understanding P4P and deciding how to manage the multiple programs being implemented by payers will challenge physicians' ethics and practice resources. Improving health care for musculoskeletal diseases will require cooperation among the specialties that share responsibility for this care and improved methods for coordinating and documenting it. (J Musculoskel Med. 2009;26:207-212)
Identifying Shoulder Pain in Older Patients: The History, Physical Examination, and Testing
June 7th 2009Shoulder pain has many causes: tendinopathy, impingement, rotator cuff tear, adhesive capsulitis ("frozen shoulder"), and arthritis. This review describes tests that can help narrow the differential diagnosis.
Gout: An age-old problem remains a burden
June 6th 2009Gout is associated with a high disease burden in older patients, probably translating into poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in addition to a higher rate of health care utilization and expenditures. The negative influence on HRQOL in these patients is attributable to the direct musculoskeletal manifestations and associated comorbidities, including the metabolic syndrome, renal failure, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.
Socioeconomic factors affect physical activity and obesity in childhood
June 6th 2009Levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in adolescence-a factor often associated with obesity, as well as morbidity and mortality in adulthood-show consistent patterns of change in relation to patient age, sex, social class, and geographical area. In countries where the influence of social class is less strong, there may be a moderating effect of context in the development of PA habits acquired in childhood.
Pain management benefits from a collaborative approach
June 6th 2009A collaborative primary care–based intervention for patients with chronic pain may be more effective than usual care. Many improvements are modest but meaningful for patients who are older and have long-standing pain, multiple medical problems, and high rates of disability.
New low back pain guideline features shared decision making
June 5th 2009A new clinical practice guideline for low back pain (LBP) favors the use of noninvasive treatments over interventional procedures and suggests shared decision making between physicians and patients for better outcomes. Issued by the American Pain Society (APS), the guideline provides clinicians with several recommendations to help determine the best approaches to treating patients with LBP.
Gait retraining may prevent knee problems
June 4th 2009The gait of runners whose kinematics place them at high risk for common running injuries and conditions may be retrained with the use of real-time feedback. Students in the University of Delaware's Biomechanics and Movement Science (BIOMS) program are conducting projects to determine how effective such retraining may be in preventing patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), knee osteoarthritis (OA), and tibial fractures.
Taking steps to better posture
June 3rd 2009Poor posture can lead to loss of shoulder range of motion, chronic pain, walking deficits, neck-related headaches, and the inability to exercise, warns Greg Thielman, PT, EdD, assistant professor of physical therapy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. In keeping with National Correct Posture Month in May, Dr Thielman offers the following tips to help patients improve their posture:
The Latest News on the Obama Administration's Plans for Healthcare Reform
May 15th 2009Pundits, analysts, and other industry observers have been weighing in with their thoughts on what the President's proposals will call for, what effect they may have on the nation's healthcare system, their chances of being enacted, and how we're going to pay for it all.
Sports injuries in weekend warriors: 20 Clinical pearls
May 8th 2009As a consequence of playing the role of the weekend warrior, recreational athletes often present with knee or leg pain. Generally, these patients can be categorized in 1 of 3 age-related groups (although, paradoxically, the injuries are not necessarily age-dependent):
Allergy and immunology problems and musculoskeletal specialists
May 8th 2009Clinicians caring for patients with musculoskeletal disorders may see patients who have underlying conditions that typically are evaluated and managed by allergy and immunology specialists. Although diagnosis of these conditions may be challenging, new insights into their pathogenesis have led to advances in diagnosis and therapy.
Wearable technology provides ready-made monitoring for musculoskeletal rehabilitation
May 6th 2009Musculoskeletal rehabilitation student researchers at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston are developing wearable monitoring systems that will allow physicians to monitor patient activity and physiology remotely over extended periods.