Sara Alehashemi, MD, MPH, recalls the first time she ever stepped foot on a badminton court. It was back in 2003, when she was a 24-year-old medical school student at Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (HUMS) in Iran. She was completing a rotation in orthopedic surgery and had been teamed up with another medical student…
The ACR recognizes that data are more important now than ever. As we enter what has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution—a period of digitalization in which technology is embedded everywhere in our everyday lives—we are not just hearing constantly about the importance of data and its capabilities, we are experiencing it every day, firsthand…
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…
CHICAGO—Medications have frequently been implicated as a cause of musculoskeletal complaints, including persistent arthralgias, arthritis and myalgias.1 The list of offending agents is diverse, and the degree of symptoms is variable. In the world of transplant recipients, this list is exhaustive and includes immunosuppressive agents (cyclosporine, tacrolimus); myeloid growth factors, such as G-CSF; antibiotics (quinolones);…
Results of a recent study in Arthritis & Rheumatology fail to clarify whether urate-lowering therapies may potentially reduce mortality risk in patients with gout.1 The study also underscores the fact that many physicians are not following the ACR guideline to help their patients achieve target serum urate levels. Partly because of this, it remains unclear…
A growing body of research is elucidating the role of intestinal microbiota in several autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Research published in December 2018 Arthritis & Rheumatology increases our understanding of the “extent and nature of mucosal immune activation during preclinical arthritis.”1 The research objective, according to the report, was to “dissect intestinal mucosal immune…
We spend a good portion of our day in front of screens—televisions, computers, tablets, phones and more. Social media (#SoMe) use has been on the rise, and its marriage to medicine seems inevitable. Merriam-Webster, aka America’s most trusted online dictionary, defines social media as forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to…
It’s no secret to any health professional, including rheumatologists, that smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco-based products is unhealthy. Yet how does smoking specifically affect rheumatic diseases, and what are some of the newest findings in this area? What role do e-cigarettes have in the smoking risk landscape? Those are the sorts of questions asked…
A 2019 report says rheumatologists are the happiest medical specialists outside of work. Simon Helfgott, MD, says this finding shows “we have been able to blend an interesting, intellectually stimulating profession and practice with the ability to help people.”..
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Chief Scott Gottlieb said he plans to step down in a month, calling into question how the agency will handle critical issues, such as e-cigarette use among teens and efforts to increase competition in prescription drugs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the…