Focus Rheums| ACR Convergence 2024 Previews

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

Lara C. Pullen, PhD

Lara C. Pullen, PhD, is a medical writer with a PhD in microbiology/immunology from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. As a medical writer she has covered topics as diverse as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and autism. Her favorite subject, however, is the role of the immune system in health and disease. Dr. Pullen is also the mother of three children, the youngest of whom has Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). She is an active member of the PWS community and a thought leader on the importance of the ketogenic diet for this patient population.

Articles by Lara C. Pullen, PhD

Rheumatologists Debate Hydroxychloroquine Dosing Guidelines for Lupus

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CHICAGO—The correct dosing of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a concern of all rheumatologists. Petros Efthimiou, MD, clinical professor of medicine at New York University, New York City, opened the Great Debate of the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting by stating, “Today, we will be discussing a critical clinical problem that affects everyone’s…

What to Do with Erosive, Inflammatory Osteoarthritis

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CHICAGO—Is erosive, inflammatory osteoarthritis (EOA) a separate condition from osteoarthritis (OA)? Roberta Ramonda, MD, PhD, a rheumatologist at the University of Padova, Italy, spoke at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting on the clinical presentation of EOA and how it differs from OA. EOA is characterized by a frequent aggressive clinical course and occurs most often…

Do Osteoporosis Screening Guidelines Meet Patient Needs?

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A recent study found that clinical practice guidelines for osteoporosis screening vary in quality and recommendations—even within the same country. Assessing guidelines from 13 countries, researchers found osteoporosis screening standards have not improved over time and many fail to include patients in guideline development…

Intensive Patient Education May Not Be Helpful for Acute Low Back Pain

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Education with recommended first-line care may not improve pain outcomes in patients with acute low back pain. When comparing patients who received education with those who received professional consultation without information or advice, researchers found patient education was no more effective than placebo at reducing depression or incidence of chronic low back pain…

Intronic Polymorphism Associated with Risk of Neurological Disorders in SLE

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Patients who develop neuropsychiatric symptoms of SLE have a small nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in an intron in a Ca++ ion channel gene that influences some, but not all, events regulated by Ca++. The SNP appears to influence activation induced apoptosis rates and cytokine production, specifically IL-4, in a disease- and genotype-specific manner…