The Lupus Initiative (TLI) has been an emergent creation inside the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for the past six years. In 2009, the Office of Minority Health and Office of Women’s Health (now called the Office of Health Disparities) solicited an application from the ACR to develop resources for educating non-rheumatologists, both in training…
About a year ago, I stuffed all my earthly belongings into my black Volkswagen Jetta and set out on a 10-hour interstate journey. I had just graduated from residency at the University of Kentucky and was headed westward, to Iowa City, for a fresh start as a rheumatology fellow. During the 10 hours I spent…
Follow-up Visit with Time A 62-year-old male patient returns to the office for a follow-up visit for chronic idiopathic gout without tophi. The patient’s present uric acid level is 4.0, and he is now taking allopurinol 450 mg per day. Previously, he was taken off indapamide due to an increase in his uric acid. He…
Pain can be reduced and functionality significantly improved for children with fibromyalgia without drug therapy, according to a study of 64 children in Philadelphia. Researchers combined intensive physical therapy and psychotherapy in individualized programs to treat the fibromyalgia patients…
(Reuters Health)—Knee replacement surgery may significantly ease pain and improve leg function and quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a new study suggests. While surgery doesn’t restore the same level of comfort and function patients had in their younger years, before they developed arthritis, the authors write in the journal…
(Reuters)—Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline temporarily closed a North Carolina factory on Tuesday after testing at a cooling tower found bacteria that causes deadly Legionnaire’s disease. The Legionella bacteria were discovered during routine inspections at the site in Zebulon, N.C., the company said. The shutdown is not expected to disrupt supplies of medicines made at the factory, which…
(Reuters Health)—Many high-risk therapeutic devices get U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval with only one study proving their safety and efficacy before going to market. Studies of how the devices work once they are on the market are also few and far between, according to a new study that looked at all 28 high-risk…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Medical practitioners’ performance suffers when they are exposed to rudeness, new findings show. Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team members who heard disparaging comments while participating in a simulation exercise had lower diagnostic and procedural performance scores compared to team members who didn’t hear rude comments, Dr. Arieh Riskin, of Bnai-Zion Medical…
The FDA is investigating the safety of MRIs using gadolinium-based contrast agents, which recent studies have shown may leave deposits of those chemicals in patients’ brain tissue after multiple scans…
A new study has examined how ACPA may originate at the molecular level. The researchers propose that numerous environmental factors may trigger the generation of ACPAs that then cross-react with various citrullinated human autoantigens through molecular mimicry to induce RA…