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

Rheumatoid Arthritis

RA Patients May Not Receive Needed Osteoporosis Screening & Treatment

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

New research examined the frequency of osteoporosis screening and treatment for RA patients from 2003–2014, including four years following the release of the 2010 ACR guideline on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis prevention and treatment. The results: Approximately half of RA patients for whom treatment was indicated never received osteoporosis medication. Researchers also found that RA patients, despite their increased risk for developing osteoporosis, were not more likely to receive osteoporosis care than OA patients…

Obesity Linked with Disability in RA

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be more likely to become disabled if they’re obese, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on more than 25,000 patients with RA. Most were overweight or obese when they joined the study. Those who were severely obese were more likely to report some disability at baseline. Over…

New Study Examines the Physical Activity & Joint Symptom Risk

Elizabeth Hofheinz, MPH, MEd  |  

If you’re a middle-aged woman who makes a New Year’s resolution to work out regularly and you keep that promise for only six months, don’t think that will go far in protecting your joints. Researchers in Australia have homed in on the details of the sustained physical activity required to reduce the risk of joint…

Study Finds Pedometers Reduce Fatigue in RA Patients

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For people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), fatigue can be a debilitating symptom that interferes with daily life and significantly reduces quality of life. Managing fatigue can be difficult; it is linked to disease activity and a host of other conditions that commonly accompany RA, such as depression, sleep problems and obesity. A new study, however,…

Baricitinib Appears Effective in Biologic-Refractory RA

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The selective Janus kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor baricitinib appears also to help patients whose rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not responded adequately to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, according to results from the RA-BEACON randomized trial. The previously published overall results from RA-BEACON showed that baricitinib-treated patients had significantly better functional and clinical…

Periodontitis May Provide Insight into RA

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Researchers explored the role of carbamylated protein (CarP) and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The results showed significantly higher levels of CarP and NETs in patients with both RA and periodontitis than in healthy controls. The data suggest that RA and periodontitis may share an underlying pathogenic mechanism…

Synovial Analysis Identifies Distinct Rheumatoid Arthritis Subtypes

Will Boggs MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Synovial gene expression and histology can be used to divide rheumatoid arthritis (RA) into high, low, and mixed inflammatory subtypes, according to results from the Accelerating Medicine Partnership: RA/SLE Network. “The actionable implication of these findings is that it may be worth considering synovial biopsies in patients who are not responding to…

Baricitinib Also Appears Effective in Biologic-Refractory RA

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The selective Janus kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor baricitinib appears also to help patients whose rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not responded adequately to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, according to results from the RA-BEACON randomized trial. The previously published overall results from RA-BEACON showed that baricitinib-treated patients had significantly better functional and clinical…

Rheumatoid Arthritis Research Advances

Larry Beresford  |  

SAN DIEGO—In a roundup of current research in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presented at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting Nov. 3–8, Mark C. Genovese, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., urged his audience to reflect on the impact therapy advances have made on RA. “In…