Rheumatology

The new health Internet being designed by federal officials will hopefully be up and running by next year, a move that will allow physicians and patients to more easily exchange health information.

Older patients experience shoulder pain more frequently than younger patients and present with different issues. Using a combination of tests with a detailed history is the best approach to narrowing the differential.

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC today announced that BENLYSTA™ (belimumab) met the primary endpoint in BLISS-76, the second of two pivotal phase 3 trials in seropositive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

A study examining the efficacy of Kaiser Permanente Southern California's Healthy Bones Program found that an aggressive, multi-disciplinary approach that more closely involves orthopedic surgeons prevented 970 hip fractures in 2007.

The answer may surprise you.

Subjective symptoms are the most important consideration for patients who have carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in deciding whether to undergo carpal tunnel release. Those who cancel surgery have self-reported outcome scores similar to those who choose to undergo the procedure.

Intra-articular injections performed with sonographic image guidance are significantly superior to palpation-guided methods in all outcome measures. They significantly reduce procedural pain, reduce pain scores at outcome, increase responder rates, and reduce nonresponder rates.

Contrary to earlier reports, mineralization of articular cartilage is a common event in end-stage osteoarthritis (OA) and is closely associated with disease progression. There is a significant correlation between clinical symptoms and the amount of mineralized cartilage.

For patients with recent osteoporotic vertebral fractures, there is no significant benefit of vertebroplasty compared with a sham procedure. Only modest improvement was seen over time in patients who underwent both procedures in overall scores for pain and scores for pain at rest and during the night, physical functioning, and quality of life.

Patients who have inflammatory arthritis and receive care from general practitioners have an almost 2-fold increased risk of prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with those who do not. Therefore, assessing CVD risk and using prevention strategies in every patient who has inflammatory arthritis is important.

Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have some genes in common, including STAT4, HLA, and PTPN22, none of 9 other newly identified genes for SLE is associated with RA. This finding supports the notion that the genetic component of each disease contributes significantly to the different disease phenotypes.

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.