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

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Obesity in Women & Smoking in Men Strongly Predict Lack of Remission in Early RA

Lorraine L. Janeczko  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Obesity in women and current smoking in men appear to be the strongest predictors of lack of remission in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) within one year, according to new research presented June 13 at EULAR 2018, the annual meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism, in Amsterdam.1 Even though early identification and…

Pain Links Fibromyalgia & RA

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Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) report pain despite excellent control of inflammation with immunotherapies. Variable degrees of coexisting fibromyalgia (FM) may explain this disparity. RA patients who have the highest 2011 ACR FM survey criteria scores appear to share neurobiologic features consistently observed in FM patients. This study is the first to provide neuroimaging evidence that RA is a mixed pain state, with many patients’ symptoms being related to the central nervous system rather than to classic inflammatory mechanisms…

Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Cut RA Risk

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients with early undifferentiated arthritis, researchers from France report. Several studies have suggested that conventional or biological DMARDs might interfere with the pathogenic process and prevent more established forms of RA, but it remains unclear whether these drugs are…

Flare Risk Increases When Medication Is Stopped Prior to Arthroplasty

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After total hip or knee arthroplasty, flares are common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a recently published study.1 Higher disease activity at baseline appears to be linked to flares, but use of such medications as biologics and methotrexate did not independently predict flaring. “Contrary to the notion that patients with established RA…

Looking for Links Between Rheumatoid Arthritis & Gut Bacteria, Mutations

Renée Bacher  |  

Patients with a specific genetic predisposition for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may want to take precautions when consuming certain types of meat, dairy and produce grown with cow manure, according to a new study out of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. The study, which assessed 100 RA patients, published in the journal Frontiers…

Researchers Seek to Predict & Prevent Rheumatoid Arthritis

Jeffrey A. Sparks, MD, MMSc, & Kevin D. Deane, MD, PhD  |  

Preventing adverse outcomes in individuals who have rheumatic diseases is a daily goal for rheumatologists. For example, rheumatologists prescribe medications and perform screening to prevent erosions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), renal failure in systemic lupus erythematosus and flares across all diseases. Many of these actions are classified as secondary or tertiary prevention, because individuals have…

Targeted Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Does Not Improve Mental Health

Will Boggs MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Effective pharmacotherapy of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not associated with meaningful improvements in mental health, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis. “We were surprised by the small effect sizes for mental-health outcomes across all of the treatments included in this review, but particularly for the anti-TNF versus disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)…

Research Shows High Adherence to Performance Measures for RA Cohort

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

New research examines the adherence rates for system-level performance measures in Canada. Using data from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort that spanned eight years, researchers determined the percentage of RA patients seen in yearly follow-up with the number of gaps between visits, the percentage of RA patients treated with a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug and number days from diagnosis to the initiation of treatment. The results: High adherence to system-level performance measures was found in this early RA cohort, with small declines in performance with the increasing length overtime…

One Step Closer to Personalized Medicine for RA Patients

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New research is translating the molecular signals in RA patients to better understand the earliest signs of disease. The work on using these signs to test the effects of RA treatment may help rheumatologists determine the most effective treatment for individuals…