Rheumatoid Arthritis News and Research

Latest Rheumatoid Arthritis News and Research

Rheumatoid factor is a risk factor for heart disease in men

Scientists have found that a product of white blood cells linked to rheumatoid arthritis could cause heart disease in men.

20 Jun 2007

Foie gras can speed amyloid development

University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine professor and researcher Alan Solomon, M.D., director of the Human Immunology and Cancer/Alzheimer's Disease and Amyloid-Related Disorders Research Program, led a team that discovered a link between foie gras prepared from goose or duck liver and the type of amyloid found in rheumatoid arthritis or tuberculosis.

19 Jun 2007

Environmental and genetic risk factors in the development of rheumatoid arthritis

Two new studies by a team in Sweden have identified smoking, a low formal level of education and certain metabolic indicators as important risk factors in the development of RA.

19 Jun 2007

Breast feeding for thirteen months or more reduces mother's risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis

In the study, the longer the breast feeding period, the lower the mother's risk of developing RA in later life.

19 Jun 2007

Alcohol may protect against rheumatoid arthritis

New data presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain, suggests that alcohol may protect against rheumatoid arthritis, with three units a week exhibiting protective effects and ten units a week being more protective still.

19 Jun 2007

Results of Tocilizumab study

Nearly half (43.9%) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving tocilizumab 8mg/kg, in addition to ongoing methotrexate therapy experienced a 50% (ACR50) improvement in symptoms at 24 weeks and more than one fifth achieved a 70% symptom improvement, according to results of a study presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.

19 Jun 2007

Bone erosion reduced by denosumab

Treatment with denosumab 60 mg and 180 mg (with background methotrexate) reduces the progression of bone erosion according to results of a 227 patient Phase II trial presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.

19 Jun 2007

Early treatment with Infliximab and Methotrex shows benefit for rheumatoid arthritis

Early treatment with a combination of methotrexate and infliximab may be effective as remission induction therapy and alter the course of early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to data presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain

17 Jun 2007

Obesity epidemic and rheumatoid arthritis

The global obesity epidemic was issued with a further health warning today ? that obesity exacerbates the quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

17 Jun 2007

Study reveals gender disparity in anti-TNF treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

Findings reported at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) in Barcelona, Spain, reveal a treatment disparity between female and male patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

17 Jun 2007

International map of rheumatoid arthritis

In the first international map of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spanning Europe and beyond, significant national differences in RA severity can be directly traced to national economics, most notably health expenditure, as exposed by data from the QUEST-RA Study presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, Barcelona, Spain.

17 Jun 2007

Researchers identify potential role for retinoic acid in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases

An important finding, which could eventually lead to a new therapeutic approach for treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, psoriasis and others, was announced by researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI).

17 Jun 2007

Study shows improvement of rheumatoid arthritis during pregnancy

Disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is significantly reduced during pregnancy, according to new data presented today at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.

17 Jun 2007

Enbrel safety data for up to 8 years in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Amgen and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth have announced the presentation of additional data that showed that the safety profile of Enbrel, (etanercept) was maintained with long-term use in patients with moderate-to-severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) who completed up to eight years of therapy.

17 Jun 2007

New rheumatoid arthritis genes identified

Researchers at the University of Manchester have identified evidence of several new genes behind the chronic inflammatory disease rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which affects 387,000 people in the UK.

16 Jun 2007

New era of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

Three new drugs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have ushered in a new era of treatment for this difficult and debilitating condition.

16 Jun 2007

What makes people susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis?

Peter K. Gregersen, MD, stares at x-rays of hands, searching out the telltale signs of inflamed joints and wrists from his research subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. With these clinical features at his side, he turns to the basic building blocks of life , the human genome , to figure out what makes these people susceptible to the disabling inflammatory condition.

14 Jun 2007