Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most used drugs for acute and chronic pain. More than 30 billion doses of NSAIDs are consumed annually from more than 70 million prescriptions.1 Despite their common use, NSAIDs are not free of serious toxicities. In the pre-Vioxx (rofecoxib) era, gastrointestinal toxicity was the primary concern for many NSAIDs….
NETs or LL37-DNA complexes may serve as future targets for SLE therapy. In a recent study, researchers identified a link between neutrophils and NETs, and the activation of self-reactive B cells. Their study describes a neutrophil-B cell interaction unique to lupus…
Making time to advance your career and enjoy family life is no easy task. One busy rheumatologist, educator and mom shares her strategies for success…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Romosozumab improves bone mineral density (BMD) in men with osteoporosis, but safety concerns are holding up its approval in the U.S. Up to 2 million men in the U.S. have osteoporosis, and up to 13 million have osteopenia, researchers note in a report online June 20 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology…
Two years ago, veteran leaders of the Pennsylvania Rheumatology Society (PRS)—established 20 years prior—made an important decision to get early career rheumatologists more involved. “We thought younger rheumatologists were under-represented, and we wanted to give them a voice [so they would] better understand a wider range of practice issues our society could address,” explains Alfred…
Concerns about how the Trump administration’s ideas to lower drug prices could reduce patient access to medicines led the ACR to speak out on many different fronts. On June 25, at a briefing hosted by the ACR and the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF), a packed room of Congressional staffers and reporters learned from rheumatologists and…
New research suggests circulating hsa-miR-122-5p and hsa-miR-4516 may become diagnostic biomarkers for osteoporosis. The study found the presence of these microRNAs were associated with osteoporotic fragility fractures and reduced bone mineral density…
In his clinic as a third-year fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Ethan Craig, MD, MHS, says it’s not always easy to hear about patients struggling with step therapy or other barriers to treatment. However, as a member of the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee (GAC), he says his work to understand and improve policy…
On Sept. 23–25, the ACR will once again hold its annual Advocates for Arthritis fly-in event in Washington, D.C. Held in conjunction with the ACR’s Advocacy 101 course, the fly-in is a great way for members and their patients to learn about issues important to the practice of rheumatology and have the opportunity to actively…
On June 8–13, the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) came together in Chicago for its 2018 Annual Meeting. With the recent change in apportionment of geographic and specialty delegates now equal to each other, more than 600 members of the HOD were present, with several hundred staff and attendees from the AMA and other medical…