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Articles by Natasha Yetman

Treating Uveitis with Adalimumab Improves Quality of Life

Marilynn Larkin  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Treatment of uveitis with adalimumab is linked with “clinically meaningful” differences in quality of life compared with treatment with placebo, new research shows. Dr. John Sheppard of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va., tells Reuters Health, “Regardless of underlying etiology or lack thereof, uveitis can have a profoundly adverse effect upon…

Data Tool: How to Design an EHR Algorithm to Identify SLE Patients

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

Electronic health records enable researchers to access significant amounts of patient data, but identifying subjects with a specific condition can be difficult. In a recent study, researchers successfully designed three algorithms to identify patients with SLE, incorporating multiple counts of the ICD-9 code, laboratory testing, medication data and keywords. In the future, these algorithms may successfully transfer to other systems to aid research…

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Only Slightly Improves Low Back Pain

Will Boggs, MD  |  

(Reuters Health)—Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs (MSBR) appear to improve low back pain only slightly, and only temporarily, a review of previous research suggests. These programs combine meditation while sitting and walking, yoga, focusing attention on different parts of the body and incorporation of mindfulness/awareness into everyday life. Earlier studies found MBSR to be helpful for…

Tofacitinib Treatment May Improve Nail Psoriasis

Rita Buckley  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor tofacitinib appears to improve moderate to severe nail psoriasis, according to a new study. “Nails are hard to treat in psoriasis and we need better treatments,” says Dr. Luis Garza, a dermatologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who was not involved in the research….

EMA Panel Recommends Nod for Sanofi, Regeneron’s Arthritis Drug

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—A European Medicines Agency panel said on Friday it recommended granting marketing approval to Sanofi and Regeneron’s experimental drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use gave a positive opinion on the drug, sarilumab (Kevzara), citing its ability to reduce the signs and symptoms of RA. Sarilumab, the active…

Valeant Prices Psoriasis Treatment at $3,500 Per Month

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said it had priced its recently approved plaque psoriasis treatment at $3,500 per month, ahead of an expected U.S. launch in the second half of 2017. Brodalumab (Siliq) is the lowest priced injectable biologic psoriasis treatment currently on the market, Valeant says. Drugmakers are facing intense criticism from…

Opioid Use Common Even After Minor Surgery

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—The risk that surgery patients will become chronic opioid users may be similar after minor procedures or major operations, a U.S. study suggests. Three to six months after surgery, new chronic opioid use was about 5.9% with minor operations and 6.5% with major surgery, the study found. The rate was just 0.4% in people…

U.S. FDA Declines to Approve Eli Lilly & Incyte Arthritis Drug

Reuters Staff  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday declined to approve a new drug for rheumatoid arthritis made by Eli Lilly and Co and partner Incyte Corp, the companies said on Friday. The FDA indicated that additional clinical data was needed to determine the most appropriate doses of the drug, baricitinib…

Trump Administration Issues Final Rule on Stricter Obamacare Enrollment

Yasmeen Abutaleb  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The Trump administration on Thursday issued a final rule that will shorten the Obamacare enrollment period and give insurers more of what they say they need in the individual insurance market, likely making it harder for some consumers to purchase insurance, healthcare experts say. It could also raise out-of-pocket medical expenses, the experts say,…

Spinal Manipulation Might Help Ease Acute Low Back Pain

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—Spinal manipulation may work as well for easing lower back pain as anti-inflammatory medications, a research review concludes. Based on data from 15 previously conducted trials involving a total of 1,711 adults, the study team found that spinal manipulation achieved meaningful reductions in pain and improvements in function after six weeks of treatment. The…