http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/56160?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-02-13&eun=g332005d0r
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experienced greater fluctuations in general and disease-related fatigue during the winter compared with the summer, a longitudinal study from Sweden found.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/56166?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-02-13&eun=g332005d0r
Older individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who reported falling when a knee buckled had a significantly increased likelihood of additional falls and of developing adverse consequences of falling, a large prospective study found.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/56325?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-02-23&eun=g332005d0r
Visits to emergency departments (ED) as well as hospitalizations for arthritis and other rheumatic conditions have increased dramatically in at least one U.S. state, researchers said.
Acetaminophen may have little effect on osteoarthritic pain
NBC Nightly News (3/17, story 9, 0:35, Holt) reported that research indicated “over-the-counter acetaminophen was not found to help in any dose for common arthritis pain, including in the knee, hip and back.”
The Los Angeles Times (3/17, Healy) reports that investigators analyzed data from 74 trials of pain medications. The data, published in the Lancet, indicated that “in older patients with osteoarthritis, acetaminophen provides no more pain relief and improvement in day-to-day function than does a placebo.” The researchers found that while “several non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had high probabilities of improving arthritis pain of the hips and knees,” just “three of those found most effective – 150 mg/day of diclofenac...1,000 mg/day of naproxen...and 1,200 mg/day of ibuprofen...are available in the” US.
Certain plant extracts may keep you young -- and alive
Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:10 AM PDT
A new study may have uncovered the fountain of youth: plant extracts containing the six best groups of anti-aging molecules ever seen
Prooxidants may fix metabolic defect in arthritis-driving T cells
Posted: 23 Mar 2016 12:18 PM PDT
Researchers have uncovered a metabolic defect that spurs T cells to go rogue in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
To treat a leading cause of osteoporosis, surgery is better than widely used medications
A leading cause of the bone-loss disease osteoporosis is hyperparathyroidism. Doctors commonly treat this using a class of prescription drugs called bisphosphonates, which are supposed to strengthen bones. A new study found those drugs actually increase the risk of fracture, meaning that taking them is worse than doing nothing at all. The research also revealed that patients who have surgery to remove the overactive parathyroid glands have fewer subsequent bone fractures.
Starting HRT in early menopause may slow progression of cardiovascular disease, study indicates
The Wall Street Journal (3/30, Beck, Subscription Publication) reports the findings of a 643-patient study published in the New England Journal of Medicine study add to the evidence that beginning hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in early menopause may be protective against cardiovascular disease.
The NPR (3/30, Bichell) “Shots” blog reports that in the study, investigators “directly tested the effect of starting hormone therapy within the first six years after menopause, versus the effect of starting 10 years or more after menopause.” After five years, researchers found that “women who started hormones within six years of menopause had artery walls that thickened a little more slowly than the women on the placebo, whereas the extra estrogen did not seem to slow thickening in the group that started the hormone therapy later.”
Primary Care Doctors Often Don’t Help Patients Manage Depression: Study
Physicians were less likely to use “care management processes” with patients who have depression than with those who had other chronic conditions, the researchers found. (Michelle Andrews, 3/25)
The small molecule oral JAK inhibitor baricitinib was effective for patients with highly refractory rheumatoid arthritis, a phase III study found. In a cohort of 527 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, a 20% response according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) was seen in 55% of patients receiving 4 mg/day of baricitinib plus conventional background therapies compared with 27% of those given placebo (P<0.001), according to Mark C. Genovese, MD, of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and colleagues.
The Wall Street Journal (3/30, Beck, Subscription Publication) reports the findings of a 643-patient study published in the New England Journal of Medicine study add to the evidence that beginning hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in early menopause may be protective against cardiovascular disease.
The NPR (3/30, Bichell) “Shots” blog reports that in the study, investigators “directly tested the effect of starting hormone therapy within the first six years after menopause, versus the effect of starting 10 years or more after menopause.” After five years, researchers found that “women who started hormones within six years of menopause had artery walls that thickened a little more slowly than the women on the placebo, whereas the extra estrogen did not seem to slow thickening in the group that started the hormone therapy later.”
The Wall Street Journal (4/4, Lukits, Subscription Publication) reports that a new study published in Psychology and Aging concluded that compared to women, men experience a more rapid decline in their mental faculties as they age. The study took place at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore and involved data collected between 1979 and 2013 from over 2,000 participants in a larger study of aging.
Risk of breaking a bone depends on where you live
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160405093505.htm
Ethnicity, socioeconomic status and place of residence in the UK all influence the risk of breaking a bone, a new study has shown. Researchers undertook an analysis of the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink database and calculated the risk of an individual experiencing a fracture. They also examined whether this risk varied according to age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and place of residence in the UK.
On its website, CBS News (4/7, Welch) reports a new study (4/8) published Thursday in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery recommends wearing earplugs when listening to live music. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of hearing loss in US adolescents jumped 31 percent between 1998 and 2006. A major contributor to this trend “is the increase in exposure to recreational noise, including loud music at venues like concerts, music festivals, and night clubs.”
The Wall Street Journal (4/4, Lukits, Subscription Publication) reports that a new study published in Psychology and Aging concluded that compared to women, men experience a more rapid decline in their mental faculties as they age. The study took place at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore and involved data collected between 1979 and 2013 from over 2,000 participants in a larger study of aging.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/56274?xid=NL_breakingnews_2016-02-19&eun=g332005d0r
Periodontitis Linked With Childhood Arthritis : Similar to the association in seropositive adult-onset rheumatoid arthritis
Periodontitis and the oral pathogens involved in the inflammatory disease may be environmental factors contributing to the development of anticyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody-positive disease in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), an association study found. Environmental factors such as exposure to cigarette smoke and microbes associated with periodontal disease have been strongly implicated in adult rheumatoid arthritis.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160323151841.htm
Prooxidants may fix metabolic defect in arthritis-driving T cells
Researchers have uncovered a metabolic defect that spurs T cells to go rogue in rheumatoid arthritis patients. The findings suggest that prooxidants, chemicals that generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), rather than antioxidants that protect against ROS, may help fix this metabolic malfunction and quell joint inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune disease in which overactive T cells trigger joint damage and inflammation.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-acetaminophen-useless-arthritis-pain-20160317-story.html
Study finds acetaminophen to be useless in relieving osteoarthritis pain
A new analysis of published research studies has found that, in older patients with osteoarthritis, acetaminophen provides no more pain relief and improvement in day-to-day function than does a placebo.
Researchers have uncovered a metabolic defect that spurs T cells to go rogue in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160323151841.htm
There's now even more evidence that smoking can be deadly for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, British researchers reported.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/56966?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-03-28&eun=g332005d0r
In a clinical phase-3-study, an international research cooperation has achieved significant success with the drug Baricitinib for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The test persons exhibited significantly less symptoms of the disorder.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160331082643.htm