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.
Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) can cause fibroinflammatory lesions in nearly any organ, and diagnosis is challenging. ACR/EULAR classification criteria for IgG4-RD have been developed and validated in a large cohort of patients. These criteria have performed well in tests and should contribute substantially to future clinical, epidemiologic and basic science investigations.
Often, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients struggle with fatigue, and the cause of the fatigue remains unclear. Past research suggests RA-related fatigue may be moderately improved by physical activity. A recent narrative review supports these prior findings, noting that patients also benefit moderately from psychosocial interventions…
In a systematic literature review, researchers found that rheumatoid arthritis patients taking etanercept were less likely to discontinue their treatment than patients using any of five other tumor necrosis factor inhibitors…
A case-control study found only 23% of invited commentaries for peer-reviewed medical journals had women as their corresponding authors. The study also revealed women are 21% less likely to write such commentaries as men with similar expertise and author seniority…
Patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitides (AAV) have an increased risk of mortality. But treatments have evolved in recent years. Recent research found that between 1999 and 2017 the AAV mortality rate declined by nearly 2% per year in patients 65–74 years old…
A recent study indicates that depression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis is a result of both contextual and disease-related factors. Researchers found a patient’s mastery—the perception they have control over things in their lives—plays a key role in the development of depression in this patient population…
The challenges of diagnosing myositis are numerous, with many tests resulting in false positives and negatives for autoantibody levels. Researchers recently compared a line blot array currently being used in research with the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Myositis panel, which is used in clinical testing. They found some patients were positive according to the research test, but negative according to the clinical test…
A recent study investigated the possible differences in nailfold videocapillaroscopy in four types of inflammatory myopathies. Researchers observed giant capillaries, disorganization and major capillary loss in dermatomyositis and overlap myositis patients, finding dermatomyositis and overlap myositis imaging was different from that of antisynthetase syndrome and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy…
A recent study from Brazil suggests lupus nephritis patients who receive renal transplant have a high five-year survival rate. Researchers found the presence of venous thrombosis and antiphospholipid syndrome, but not viral infection, were important predictors of renal graft loss in these patients…
Patients with meniscal tear experience similar levels of reduced pain and improved physical function when treated with either arthroscopic partial meniscectomy or physical therapy, according to a recent study. The study also found these improvements were long term—lasting through the five-year follow up…