Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Latest Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Researchers identify clear role for tags in mediating genetic risk for rheumatoid arthritis

In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an immune disorder that afflicts an estimated 1.5 million American adults.

21 Jan 2013

New study: Loneliness can harm overall health

New research links loneliness to a number of dysfunctional immune responses, suggesting that being lonely has the potential to harm overall health.

20 Jan 2013

Having 2 attending physicians during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways

Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes - and a new study by a duo at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates how having two attending surgeons in the operating room during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways.

19 Jan 2013

RSAS honors Feinstein Institute scientist with Crafoord Prize for genetic research on arthritis

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today that Peter K. Gregersen , MD, a scientist at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, will receive the prestigious Crafoord Prize for his genetic research in the area rheumatoid arthritis.

18 Jan 2013

Early life exposure to gut microbes protects against autoimmune disease

Early life exposure to normal bacteria of the GI tract (gut microbes) protects against autoimmune disease in mice, according to research published on-line in the January 17 edition of Science. The study may also have uncovered reasons why females are at greater risk of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus compared to males.

18 Jan 2013

People with chronic inflammatory conditions may benefit from mindfulness meditation

People suffering from chronic inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma - in which psychological stress plays a major role - may benefit from mindfulness meditation techniques, according to a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientists with the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center.

17 Jan 2013

Top-line results from Amgen’s Aranesp Phase 3 trial on heart failure and anemia

Amgen today announced top-line results of the Phase 3 Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) RED-HF (Reduction of Events With Darbepoetin Alfa in Heart Failure) Trial.

17 Jan 2013

SPECT-CT improves preop foot diagnosis

Research demonstrates the usefulness of radionuclide bone scans with single photon-emission computed tomography and computed tomography for the assessment of patients awaiting foot or angle surgery.

16 Jan 2013

Knee cartilage repair success with new biomaterial

In a small study, researchers reported increased healthy tissue growth after surgical repair of damaged cartilage if they put a “hydrogel” scaffolding into the wound to support and nourish the healing process. The squishy hydrogel material was implanted in 15 patients during standard microfracture surgery, in which tiny holes are punched in a bone near the injured cartilage. The holes stimulate patients’ own specialized stem cells to emerge from bone marrow and grow new cartilage atop the bone.

15 Jan 2013

Arterial versus venous graft debate continues

Researchers say that there is no significant reduction in angiographic graft failure with arterial grafts compared with saphenous vein grafts in revascularization of the right coronary system.

15 Jan 2013

NSAID–antihypertensive combinations may risk kidney damage

Physicians should be aware that treating patients with a combination of antihypertensives along with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may cause kidney damage, say researchers.

14 Jan 2013

Obesity not linked to bipolar disorder course

Obesity is not significantly associated with psychiatric disease course in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), Canadian researchers report.

14 Jan 2013

U.S. trails 16 other affluent countries in life expectancy, health status

It's no news that the U.S. has lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality than most high-income countries. But a magisterial new report says Americans are actually less healthy across their entire life spans than citizens of 16 other wealthy nations.

11 Jan 2013

UCSF teams to study new ways to reduce childhood mortality and disease in developing nations

Two UCSF teams have received a total of $16 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study new ways to significantly reduce childhood mortality and disease in developing nations.

11 Jan 2013

Mothers with high PUFA levels during pregnancy have fatter children

Southampton researchers have demonstrated that mothers who have higher levels of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are found in cooking oils and nuts, during pregnancy have fatter children.

11 Jan 2013

H. pylori may protect against stroke and some cancers

A new study by NYU School of Medicine researchers reveals that an especially virulent strain of the gut bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) isn't implicated in the overall death rate of the U.S. population, and may even protect against stroke and some cancers.

10 Jan 2013