CHICAGO—Two experts presented insights on the diagnosis and treatment of low back and hip pain, including a refresher course on the mechanical structures involved, in Anatomy in a Day: Demystifying Low Back Pain and Lateral Hip Pain: New Patho-Anatomical Perspectives, a session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Low Back Pain Avoid using such terms…
CHICAGO—At the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, rheumatologist project volunteers for the ACR’s Collaborative Initiatives talked about their efforts to educate primary-care providers, patients and families in their communities about systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Their goal is to facilitate timely diagnosis and treatment of lupus, especially in underserved communities. Health Disparities Health disparities, or differences in health…
CHICAGO—Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) mainly affects young women, but can also affect men. APS patients test positive for multiple antibodies, including lupus anticoagulant (LAC), anti-cardiolipin and/or anti-beta2-glycoprotein I. These antibodies are diagnostic of APS, and they place the patient at increased risk for thrombosis and, in women, pregnancy morbidity. Women with LAC or those who…
CHICAGO—Because the epigenome has been implicated in a variety of rheumatic conditions, a Basic Research Conference was convened on Epigenetics in Immune-Mediated Disease in conjunction with the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Melanie Ehrlich, PhD, professor of human genetics and genomics at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, opened the conference. She has a long…
At the close of my first year in fellowship, a co-fellow opened a packed cabinet behind her desk, and untold volumes of methodically annotated medical articles burst forth. Impressed not only by her diligence but also by the sheer volume of paper, I made a mental note to read more and to read more efficiently….
On Feb. 9, 2019, protesters gathered at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City to lead a march down Fifth Avenue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.1 As a general rule, news from the world of art is not a topic discussed in these pages, but if you indulge me for just a little bit…
Research examining the metabolic profile of SLE found increased oxidative activity, as well as lower levels of tyrosine and tryptophan, in SLE patients relative to controls, suggesting increased activity of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase. The results suggest metabolomics may have the ability to measure disease severity in SLE…
A 60-year-old man returns for a follow-up related to his diagnoses of rheumatoid arthritis and chronic gout of his right ankle and foot, without tophi. He reports the gout flares have subsided in his ankle. He takes 450 mg of allopurinol daily. He has rheumatoid factor-positive rheumatoid arthritis, which previously affected multiple sites, without organ…
Last year the ACR’s nonpartisan political action committee, RheumPAC, raised nearly $150,000 from individual contributors. Starting in 2019, the addition of the RheumPAC Advocacy Fund, where rheumatology practices and state societies can contribute corporate dollars, is expected to support RheumPAC fundraising efforts in an effort to surpass this dollar amount, giving rheumatology an even stronger…
Rheumatologists can build resilience through recovery and reframing, transforming stress so that it enhances performance…