Focus Rheums| ACR Convergence 2024 Previews

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

ACR, EULAR Approve New Classification Criteria for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome

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Classification criteria for primary Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) have been approved by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), validating an international set of classification criteria for SS using standards set by both organizations. Those criteria can now be found in the 2016 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome: A…

Lateral Hip Pain: Could It Be Gluteal Tendinopathy?

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Researchers recently found that physical tests that involve an active muscle contraction were most useful in identifying gluteal tendinopathy in patients with lateral hip pain. However, patients who were not palpably tender over the greater trochanter were unlikely to have GT detected during an MRI…

Accelerating Medicines Partnership Advances Research for Autoimmune Diseases

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Advancing the understanding of autoimmune diseases has implications for precision medicine, according to Robert Carter, MD, of the NIH. Research funded through the NIH’s Accelerating Medicines Partnership has the potential to develop better biomarkers and clinical trials for lupus and RA, paving the way for more personalized treatment…

Metabolomic Profiles: A Biomarker for the Biological Treatment of RA

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A recent study suggests that metabolites may be a biomarker for disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). For the first time, researchers identified serum metabolomic profiles and 16 clinical parameters that serve as a reasonably predictive model for a patient’s therapeutic response to biological treatment of RA, specifically TNF-α inhibitor therapy…

Weight Loss Surgery May Reduce Risk of Developing Gout

Madeline Kennedy  |  

(Reuters Health)—Obese people who have weight loss surgeries, such as gastric bypass, are much less likely than those who don’t have surgery to develop gout, a painful type of arthritis, according to a Swedish study. People who chose to get weight loss surgery are also less than half as likely to develop hyperuricemia, too much…

Music May Help Reduce Pain

Kathryn Doyle  |  

(Reuters Health)—As a complement to traditional pain relief tools, such as medication, listening to music may lessen acute or chronic pain related to cancer and other conditions, according to a new review. “We have seen and observed this effect in multiple clinical settings, such as medical hospitals and hospice-care facilities,” says author Dr. Jin Hyung…

U.S. Could File Charges in Generic Drug Probe by Year-End

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—U.S. prosecutors could file the first charges in their criminal investigation of generic drugmakers over suspected price collusion by the end of the year, Bloomberg reports. The antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) spans more than a dozen companies and about two dozen drugs, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter….

Treating the Athlete: New Thoughts on How to Prevent & Treat Arthritis in Athletes & Raise Their Awareness

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All athletes—amateur and professional—should understand their risks for developing injury-related arthritis. Rheumatologists and other physicians at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York take a rapid approach to treating athletes, often considering intense physical therapy, innovative treatments and surgery much sooner than for the average patient—all to keep joints healthy and enable athletes to play for as long as possible…