Conditions

Subcategories:Axial Spondyloarthritis Gout and Crystalline Arthritis Guidelines Myositis Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders Other Rheumatic Conditions Pain Syndromes Pediatric Conditions Psoriatic Arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis Sjögren’s Disease Soft Tissue Pain Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Systemic Sclerosis Vasculitis

Valeant Psoriasis Drug’s Suicide Risk Hard to Assess, Say FDA Staff

Reuters Staff | July 15, 2016

(Reuters)—Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s experimental drug to treat psoriasis carries a potential risk of suicide that is challenging to assess due to limited data, a preliminary review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. The review comes two days ahead of a meeting of outside experts who will advise the FDA on…

Patients with PsA, Cutaneous Psoriasis May Undergo Hip Replacement

Richard Quinn | July 15, 2016

A recent study of patients with psoriatic arthritis and cutaneous psoriasis found that these patients do not have a higher risk of worse outcomes after total hip arthroplasty compared with patients with osteoarthritis…

How HLA-B27 Research Landmarks, Advances Relate to Ankylosing Spondylitis Pathogenesis

Joerg Ermann, MD | July 13, 2016

The mechanistic link between human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is one of the great enigmas in rheumatology. The introduction of biological therapies that target tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or the interleukin (IL) 23/IL-17A axis has had a major impact on the quality of life for many patients with AS, and one…

Exercise Therapy Recommended to Manage Knee Osteoarthritis

Allyn Bove, PT, DPT, & G. Kelley Fitzgerald, PT, PhD, FAPTA | July 12, 2016

The benefits of exercise therapy for individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) are well known. The ACR strongly recommends both aquatic exercise and land-based aerobic and resistance exercise for managing knee OA.1 A recent Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis concluded that high-quality evidence supports the use of exercise to reduce pain and improve physical function and…

Medical Marijuana’s Potential Benefits, Risks

Thomas R. Collins | July 12, 2016

CHICAGO—Despite the complicated politics surrounding medical marijuana, cannabis has a wide variety of medical benefits and potential benefits, but the risks need to be understood, said Daniel Clauw, MD, director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan, in a session at the ACR’s 2016 State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium. Effects It’s…

Lupus Expert Calls for Better Research, Outcomes of Clinical Trials

Thomas R. Collins | July 12, 2016

CHICAGO—A lupus expert recently issued a call for action to improve outcomes of lupus clinical trials, a field that has had so many failed potential therapies that he said it seems to be “cursed.” Richard Furie, MD, chief of rheumatology at Northwell Health in New York, said at the ACR’s 2016 State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium that…

Rheumatology Case Report: Concomitant Lupus with Features of Scleroderma, Castleman Disease

Kwabna Parker, MBBS, Sireesha Datla, MD, & Nancy Soloman, MD | July 11, 2016

We report a case of a 27-year-old woman who was initially diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), had features of scleroderma and was subsequently found to have lymph node biopsy consistent with multicentric Castleman disease (MCD). She also had serologic evidence of acute Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection (vs. reactivation of EBV). The occurrence of MCD…

Conformational Flexibility in HLA-B27 Provides Clues to Development of Ankylosing Spondylitis

Kathy Holliman | July 11, 2016

Understanding how human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecule B27 promotes spondyloarthritis has intrigued researchers for four decades. Although the association between the single gene variant HLA-B27—specifically some of its subtypes—with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is particularly strong, how HLA-B27 directly influences disease development has not yet been clearly explained, although hypotheses continue to be generated….

The ACR’s Collaborative Initiatives Promote Awareness of Lupus, Rheumatic Diseases

Joan M. Von Feldt, MD, MSEd, FACR, FACP | July 11, 2016

When I began my tenure as ACR president this past November, I posited that it “takes a village” to grow and succeed in rheumatology’s rapidly changing environment. The ACR village includes volunteers who represent a diverse leadership pipeline reflecting the demographics of our younger members. It also includes the international rheumatology community that accounts for…

Dysbiosis of Gut, But Not Ocular Microbiome, Associated with Sjögren’s Syndrome

Lara C. Pullen, PhD | July 11, 2016

Research has explored the connection between Sjögren’s syndrome and intestinal dysbiosis associated with ocular mucosal disease. A recent study found that oral antibiotics and desiccating stress lead to extreme changes in the gut microbiota in mice. In patients with Sjögren’s syndrome, researchers found that patients with the most severe keratoconjunctivitis sicca and combined systemic and ocular disease had the lowest diversity of stool microbiota…