Chronic pain can be one of the biggest challenges that patients and their physicians face. Rheumatology patients are no stranger to pain, and when pain goes beyond the scope of what rheumatologists can treat, collaboration with a pain specialist is common. “I refer patients to pain management when there is no underlying inflammatory condition, usual…
“The line between ACR and ARHP sessions has totally blurred,” said Donah Zack Crawford, MA, during the presentation, “Highlights from the 2011 ARHP Sessions,” here at the 2011 ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting held in Chicago in November 2011.
The 2011 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting program offers a plethora of opportunities for health professionals to gain insight into emerging concepts in the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatologic disorders as well as improving quality of life in affected patients.
Medical cannabis may benefit patients experiencing pain, and rheumatologists should be able to discuss its potential risks and benefits with their patients. Here are insights from Dr. Mary Ann Fitzcharles on current research, patient use and more.
Cannabis arteritis mirrors thromboangiitis obliterans in its clinical and arteriographic presentation, but its relevant exposure is cannabis rather than tobacco.1 Whether cannabis arteritis is a subset of thromboangiitis obliterans or a unique pathologic entity is debatable. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, is a peripheral vasoconstrictor.2 This offers mechanistic insight into how cannabis may…
Rhabdomyolysis is a clinical syndrome characterized by muscle tissue necrosis and release of intramuscular components into the circulation. Typical manifestations include muscle pain and myoglobinuria, causing dark urine. Serum creatinine kinase (CK) enzyme levels are usually markedly elevated. Severity can range from muscle enzyme elevation in the serum of an otherwise asymptomatic patient to extremely…
ATLANTA—Managing teenage patients may present challenges for pediatric rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals not only because of their often complex, rare conditions, but because teenagers are, well, teenagers. Teens may experiment with sexual intercourse, alcohol use, tobacco or vaping e-cigarettes to fit in with their peers, even if these habits have serious health consequences, according to…
(Reuters)—U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Stephen Hahn, MD, chief medical executive of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the White House said on Friday. Dr. Hahn, a radiation oncologist who has been at MD Anderson in Houston since 2015, if confirmed would follow…
Historically, the early approach for treating interstitial lung disease (ILD) due to systemic sclerosis (SSc) involved immunosuppressant therapy, primarily with cytotoxic agents.1 Glucocorticoids in combination with another immunosuppressant agent, such as oral azathioprine or cyclophosphamide, were often used to treat patients with severe, progressive SSc-ILD.2 However, direct evidence to support this therapeutic approach was lacking…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—High school students with chronic medical conditions who drink alcohol are more likely than their nondrinking peers to forget or skip taking their medications, according to an online survey. “I was surprised to see such a clear association between alcohol use and medication nonadherence—a finding which really brings home the need to…