During ACR Convergence 2020, Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH, discussed innovative research into a potential treatment for lupus, medication tapering & more. These findings may influence the treatment of rheumatic disease in the future.
Cortisone Shots Less Effective Than PT for Arthritis-Related Knee Pain
(Reuters Health)—People with stiff and aching knees due to arthritis get better relief from physical therapy than from cortisone injections, according to a one-year military study comparing the two treatments. A multi-disciplinary team of doctors reports in The New England Journal of Medicine that people who initially scored 107 on a 241-point scale measuring a…
Ultrasound Image Review: A 30-Year-Old Woman with Left Foot Pain
Presentation A 30-year-old woman presented to her rheumatologist for left foot pain of three weeks’ duration. She was followed for systemic lupus erythematosus manifesting in arthritis and hemolytic anemia, as well as anti-nuclear antibody and Smith antibody positivity, and was treated with hydroxychloroquine and prednisone in the 2.5–10 mg per day range. She was symptom…
RA Patients May Not Receive Needed Osteoporosis Screening & Treatment
New research examined the frequency of osteoporosis screening and treatment for RA patients from 2003–2014, including four years following the release of the 2010 ACR guideline on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis prevention and treatment. The results: Approximately half of RA patients for whom treatment was indicated never received osteoporosis medication. Researchers also found that RA patients, despite their increased risk for developing osteoporosis, were not more likely to receive osteoporosis care than OA patients…
Denosumab May Work Better Than Risedronate for Steroid-Induced Osteoporosis
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The RANKL inhibitor denosumab is superior to the bisphosphonate risedronate in increasing bone-mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine in patients just starting or continuing steroid therapy, according to 12-month results of a 24-month randomized controlled study. “Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis is the most common form of secondary osteoporosis and increases the risk of…
Abatacept Plus Prednisone Therapy Studied for Treating Giant Cell Arteritis
A recent study, conducted by the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium and funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), examined whether the addition of abatacept, a drug that affects T cell activation, to standard prednisone treatment could reduce the risk of relapse in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA).1 Although…
A New Approach to Fracture Prevention
Glucocorticoids are widely prescribed by rheumatologists, and the effects of daily and cumulative doses of these drugs on bone mineral density (BMD) are important elements of a draft clinical guideline document presented on Nov. 13 at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Leaders of the ACR guideline project discussed their recommendations at the…
Proton Pump Inhibitor Use May Be Linked to Bone Mineral Density
The use of proton pump inhibitors may lead to changes in bone mineral density and an increased risk of developing osteoporosis…
New Large-Vessel Vasculitis Therapies Emerge, but Better Options Still Needed
LONDON—New therapies are emerging for the two main forms of large-vessel vasculitis, giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu’s arteritis—particularly biologic therapies. But for just about every available treatment gap, drawbacks or limited evidence remain, with the results needing to be borne out in larger trials, an expert said at the Annual Congress of the European…
How to Manage Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Recognizing the need to provide guidance on the current disparate management of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in collaboration with the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), recently published the first international set of recommendations for the screening, treatment and management of PMR.1,2 Specifically, the recommendations offer guidance on the use of…