In this episode, Dr. Kumar reflects on the importance of championing patients and healthcare through advocacy, and systems thinking.
A Delicate Balance: How to Avoid Overmedicalization in Rheumatology
Rheumatologist Rachelle Buchbinder, AO, MBBS (Hons), MSc, PhD, discusses reducing overdiagnosis, overtreatment, low-value care and waste in medicine.
Rheumatology’s Systems-Based Thinking Plays Well on Capitol Hill
One of the great joys of rheumatology is that it prioritizes systems-based thinking. Whether integrating data from radiographic imaging or piecing together a puzzling case of autoimmunity, rheumatologists are tasked with understanding how systems fundamentally work. In fact, this emphasis on systems-based thinking is often what draws and keeps the best and smartest physicians within…
3 AC&R Study Summaries: Frailty & Prefrailty in RA, Premature Mortality in Gout & Using Recruitment & Multidisciplinary Care Incentives to Improve Access
Frailty & Prefrailty in Patients with RA TNF-α inhibitors associated with higher infection risk By Namrata Singh, MD, MSCI, Katherine D. Wysham, MD, James S. Andrews, MD, & Una E. Makris, MD Why was this study done? Frailty and prefrailty are more common and occur at a younger age in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…
Case Report: Persistent Pruritic Plaques in Adult-Onset Still’s Disease
Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a systemic autoinflammatory disorder characterized by persistent fever at regular intervals, arthralgias or arthritis, rash, sore throat and neutrophilic leukocytosis.1,2 Significant elevation in ferritin levels is characteristic and tends to correlate with disease activity. Additional clinical features may include myalgias, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, serositis, myocarditis, abnormal liver function tests and development…
Interferons in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Current knowledge of receptor-ligand interactions, cell signaling, and transcriptional regulation derive from studies of type I interferon. The design of novel therapeutics is informed by the advances in investigation of type I interferon, with the potential for important impacts on patient management.
Community Practice Rheumatology Can Enable Lasting Relationships
Benjamin Widener, MD, FACP, has found a niche in community practice rheumatology in his hometown in Wyoming. As the lone rheumatologist serving the community, he has the opportunity to develop lasting therapeutic relationships.
Telehealth Triage Study Seeks to Close Gaps in Care
Reducing the time to diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment is paramount to intercept inflammatory damage in patients at the onset of rheumatic disease. But those targets can be delayed by provider shortages and other barriers to care. Since last June, Remission Medical, a virtual rheumatology clinic, has been partnering with Mayo Clinic to find…
The Biases We Don’t Know We Hold
Implicit bias can affect patient care at the physician level when they’re making treatment decisions and at the healthcare organization level when they’re choosing new hires. Here are insights into strategies rheumatologists can use to become aware of, and question, their implicit biases.
The Prospect of Rheumatoid Arthritis Prevention
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is treatable, and for that, we should be grateful. But wouldn’t it be better if we could prevent it from even happening? Recent data from a study in China demonstrated some interesting results. Could an older type of diabetes medication be the answer we’ve been looking for? Background Preclinical studies have suggested…
To the Bone: Experts Discuss Developments in Osteoporosis Care
During ACR Convergence 2023, experts discussed developments in the treatment and diagnosis of osteoporosis, addressing risks of treatment discontinuation, the use of bone turnover markers in patient assessment and vitamin D.
Good Care: Benefits of Pain Self-Management Is Getting More Recognition
Pain management can involve more than active pharmacologic treatment. During a session at ACR Convergence 2023, experts addressed the benefits of patient self-management for pain, how it works with clinical care and the role of technology.
Lifestyle Medicine Interventions Can Benefit Patients with Rheumatic Disease
Lifestyle medicine interventions, such as dietary changes, movement and mindfulness, in combination with conventional treatment, may help alleviate symptoms of rheumatic disease, according to panelists at ACR Convergence 2023.
Management Updates for a Spectrum of Systemic Autoinflammatory Diseases
SAN DIEGO—As part of a panel on systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs) at a Nov. 15 scientific session of ACR Convergence 2023, Sivia Lapidus, MD, shared context and insights on the therapeutic management of patients with these conditions. The Spectrum of SAIDs SAIDs encompass a broad swath of individually rare disorders driven by innate immune responses…
The Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients with RA & More Explored in 3rd Plenary Session
SAN DIEGO—In one presentation at Plenary Session 3, ACR Convergence 2023, Beth Wallace, MD, MSc, a staff physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Michigan, and an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, shared important data on the relationship between time-dependent cumulative glucocorticoid exposure and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in a cohort of veterans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Ethics Forum: The Current Landscape of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
A handful of articles on artificial intelligence (AI) have graced the pages of this publication in the past six years, including one by Bharat Kumar, MD, in November 2022. Dr. Kumar highlighted the exciting potential of AI in rheumatology, including machine learning (ML) algorithms for the prediction of response to methotrexate and a predictive model…
Spring 2024’s Awards, Appointments & Announcements in Rheumatology
Carola Vinuesa, MD, PhD, Honored with Lupus Insight Prize In June 2023 at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS), Carola Vinuesa, MD, PhD, a Royal Society Wolfson fellow and assistant research director at the Francis Crick Institute, London, was awarded the Lupus Research Alliance’s Lupus Insight Prize. The $100,000…
Rheum After 5: Dr. Usman Malik on the Art of Writing
Novice writers often wait months, sometimes even years, before their first piece is published. However, Usman T. Malik, MBBS, shares a different experience. His letter to the editor of Bachon ka Pakistan, a Pakistani children’s publication, was published shortly after being submitted. He was just 7 years old. Dr. Malik is now an assistant professor…
FDA Proposal for Biosimilar Use in 2025 Budget
A proposal for biosimilar use in the 2025 budget would allow substitution of any biosimilar for its reference product without an interchangeable designation. The hope is to increase biosimilar uptake, with the subsequent potential to increase product “competition, access and affordability.”1 In the 2025 budget proposal, the Biden administration noted that the legal distinction between…