Rheumatology News and Research

RSS

Rheumatology is a sub-specialty in internal medicine and pediatrics, devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. Rheumatologists mainly deal with clinical problems involving joints, soft tissues and allied conditions of connective tissues.

Study points to new therapeutic target to interrupt inflammation, bone erosion in rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have shown for the first time how the activation of a receptor provokes the inflammation and bone degradation of rheumatoid arthritis -- and that activation of this one receptor, found on cells in the fluid of arthritic joints, is all that is required.

10 Sep 2014

Unusual kind of immune cell in tongue appears to play pivotal role in prevention of thrush

An unusual kind of immune cell in the tongue appears to play a pivotal role in the prevention of thrush, according to the researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who discovered them.

9 Sep 2014

Researchers aim to safely and quickly suppress food allergies in human

In mice, the answer appears to be "yes," but making sure the same can happen in humans is a task that Fred Finkelman, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics in the University of Cincinnati's (UC) College of Medicine and a researcher at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, is attempting to tackle.

9 Sep 2014

Inadequate pain relief common in knee osteoarthritis

Patients with knee osteoarthritis requiring analgesic therapy are often not receiving adequate pain relief, researchers report.

8 Sep 2014

Morning hypertension unmasked as risk factor for cardiovascular events

Patients on antihypertensive medication who have high blood pressure in the morning, as measured with home monitoring kits, are at increased risk of cardiovascular events, even if their clinic measurement is acceptable, researchers have found.

8 Sep 2014

Blood pressure self-management suitable for high-risk patients

Patients with hypertension and high cardiovascular risk can successfully monitor and titrate their own antihypertensive medication, shows research published in JAMA.

1 Sep 2014

Research roundup: Benefits of hip surgery; preventing surgical infections; assessing ACOs' predecessors

Surgical treatment of hip fractures can achieve better survival and functional outcomes than nonoperative treatment, but less is known about its economic benefits. ... We estimated the effects of surgical treatment for displaced hip fractures through a Markov cohort analysis of patients 65 years and older. ... Estimated average lifetime societal benefits per patient exceeded the direct medical costs of hip fracture surgery by $65,000 to $68,000 for displaced hip fractures. With the exception of the assumption of nursing home use, the sensitivity analyses show that surgery produces positive net societal savings (Gu, Koenig, Mather and Tongue, 8/5).

30 Aug 2014

Risk-based treatment approach should be considered for patients with hypertension

Blood pressure-lowering treatment should target patients at greatest cardiovascular risk and not just those with the highest baseline levels, suggest findings of a meta-analysis.

28 Aug 2014

Many people with severe rheumatoid arthritis failing to take expensive medication

Large numbers of people with severe rheumatoid arthritis are failing to take expensive medication as prescribed, according to a new multi-centre study led by researchers in Manchester.

From The University of Manchester 28 Aug 2014

New biomarker may improve diagnosis of early-stage rheumatoid arthritis

A novel biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has significant potential to help physicians better identify early-stage disease, when treatment can often arrest further disease progression and disability, according to a new study in The Journal of Rheumatology.

From Quest Diagnostics 28 Aug 2014

AMGF participates in collaborative effort to find best practices in managing RA patients

The American Medical Group Foundation today announced participants in a collaborative dedicated to finding best practices in managing patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

19 Aug 2014

Meta-analysis shows blood pressure variability and mortality link

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies investigating the link between visit-to-visit variability of blood pressure and cardiovascular disease or all-cause mortality has revealed a modest, but significant, association.

18 Aug 2014

Research roundup: Benefits of smaller practices; Rx price growth; fixing Medicare claims reviews

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services has taken steps to prevent its contractors from conducting certain duplicative postpayment claims reviews - reviews of the same claims that are not permitted by the agency - but CMS neither has reliable data nor provides sufficient oversight and guidance to measure and fully prevent duplication.

16 Aug 2014