In a Year in Review session at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, Daniel Solomon, MD, MPH, highlighted the latest and most intriguing aspects of clinical research on rheumatic diseases from 2017. His discussion touched on medical therapy, genetics, the effects of bariatric surgery and diet, cancer risk and more…
How are comorbidities for RA patients managed outside of rheumatology? A recent Canadian study developed and assessed quality measures related to preventive care and screenings for RA patients in a primary care setting, comparing RA and non-RA patients. The results: Primary care physicians often provide similar levels of care to patients with and without RA. But RA patients were less likely to receive some cancer screenings and all necessary tests to assess their cardiovascular risk…
CHICAGO—Sherine E. Gabriel, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at Rutgers Medical School in Newark, N.J., and a past president of the ACR, presented an overview of cardiovascular disease and rheumatology on a Saturday morning to a room overflowing with rheumatologists attending the ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in April. She noted that physicians have known for a…
A recent study examined the relationship between complement activation and coronary artery disease in patients with rheumatic disease. Researchers found these patients had higher plasma terminal complement complexes and more complement activation in the vascular adventitia, which may accelerate cardiovascular disease and act as a target for new therapies…
For patients with rheumatic disease, general treatment guidelines for managing cardiovascular risk are suboptimal, says Katherine Liao, MD. A patient’s level of disease activity and inflammation affect their risk…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—What do treating hand osteoarthritis (OA) in the primary care setting, high financial strain and risk of depression in patients with lupus, prolonged sitting and cardiovascular disease, and sex-specific treatment after total hip arthroplasty have in common? They were all topics presented during a session titled ARHP I: Exemplary Abstracts at the 2016 ACR/ARHP…
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been used therapeutically since the 1960s.1 Evidence of adverse cardiovascular outcomes led to the withdrawal of the selective COX-2 inhibitor rofecoxib in September 2004, when the question of cardiovascular safety of NSAIDs first came into the limelight.2 Valdecoxib (Bextra) was subsequently withdrawn from the market in April 2005 due to…
A recent study showed that at moderate doses celecoxib may be noninferior with respect to cardiovascular safety compared with ibuprofen or naproxen…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Psoriasis patients treated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) inhibitors may have a lower risk of major cardiovascular (CV) events than those treated with methotrexate (MTX), according to a new study. “The findings do not surprise me. TNF inhibitors control inflammation better than methotrexate,” lead author Dr. Jashin J. Wu of Kaiser Permanente…
Baseball is a great sport. It’s fascinating to watch the evolving duel between pitcher and batter. As the former employs their remarkably powerful and versatile rotator cuff and forearm flexor muscles to hurl blazing pitches, the latter engages their exceptionally honed hand–eye neural link to make contact with the ball. Baseball is the ultimate summertime…