Lupus

January 11, 2021

The reviewers find persistent disease activity and flares despite progress to date. In addition, they point to the persistence of glucocorticoid treatment dependency, comorbidity burden, reduced health-related quality of life, and inconsistent access to high-quality care.

December 04, 2020

In today's interview, our focus is on patient perspectives. During the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting last month, Juana Mata shared her story of a life living with lupus. Getting an accurate diagnosis wasn't easy, but eventually she found a doctor and treatment that's working for her. In today's interview, Kim Gorgens, a psychologist and Rheumatology Network board member interviews Juana and her sister, Estela, who describe turning a lupus diagnosis into a positive force for change through advocacy. The sisters have created a non-profit group called Looms for Lupus in which they embrace art therapy to relieve stress.

December 01, 2020

In this episode of Overdrive, the Rheumatology Network podcast, Dr. Kim Gorgens interviews two sisters who've turned a negative healthcare experience into a positive force for change in the lupus community through advocacy. They shared their story during the Patient Perspectives session at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology which was held last month. In this interview, they share their story with Dr. Gorgens.

December 01, 2020

Anxiety and depression are not uncommon among lupus patients, show studies recently presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

October 30, 2020

The American College of Rheumatology has launched a project designed to resolve inequities in care for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, a condition that is two or three times more common among ethnic minorities. In this interview, S. Sam Lim, M.D., MPH, chair of ACR’s Collaborative Initiatives Special Committee, tells us more about the project.

October 29, 2020

Anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive agents are the two primary classes of drugs used to treat lupus nephritis. Now, a new study shows that the addition of the monoclonal antibody belimumab to standard therapy may make a meaningful difference in this hard-to-treat patient population.

October 29, 2020

Although mortality rates for kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 are known to be high, end stage kidney disease patients with COVID-19 appear to have a higher risk of mortality than patients with new kidneys.

October 28, 2020

A possible new treatment for advanced lupus nephritis passes a phase two trial, according to a study presented at Kidney Week, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nephrology. The treatment, a CD20 antagonist called obinutuzumab, led to improvements in 41 percent of patients with lupus nephritis—a condition that affects one in 60 people with systemic lupus.

October 23, 2020

Treatments for lupus nephritis can cost patients over $50,000 a year, according to a study presented yesterday at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week annual meeting.

October 07, 2020

Belimumab (Benlysta, GlaxoSmithKline) can improve the kidney health of people with lupus nephritis, a new phase 3 clinical trial suggests.

September 26, 2020

Today, we talk with Dr. Richard Furie who is chief of rheumatology at Northwell Health in New York. Dr. Furie is the lead investigator of a study on lupus nephritis just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Furie and colleagues from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research reported that belimumab with standard therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for lupus nephritis. If the treatment is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first of its kind for this condition. In this presentation, Dr. Furie tell us more.

September 24, 2020

Type I Interferon Inhibition Could Benefit Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

September 22, 2020

Cognitive impairment can be an ongoing issue for patients with rheumatic disease, such as lupus. A proper diagnosis includes a battery of tests, says Noa Shwartz, M.D., a physician-researcher with Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

September 21, 2020

Simultaneous use of more than one drug is gaining traction as a treatment strategy for severe lupus symptoms, particularly in people with chronic kidney disease.

September 18, 2020

In today’s one-on-one interview, we talk with Dr. Richard Furie who is chief of rheumatology at Northwell Health in New York. Dr. Furie is the lead investigator of a study on lupus nephritis just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Furie and colleagues from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research reported that belimumab with standard therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for lupus nephritis. If the treatment is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first of its kind for this condition. In this presentation, Dr. Furie tell us more.

September 10, 2020

The list of drugs suspected to cause drug-induced lupus erythematosus now includes metoclopramide hydrochloride, levothyroxine sodium, metronidazole hydrochloride and fexofenadine hydrochloride, according to a study published online this month in JAMA Dermatology.

July 17, 2020

In this week’s news roundup from Rheumatology Network, we talk with Dr. Chrstine Anastasiou, a rheumatologist with the University of California San Francisco who recently published a study in Arthritis Care and Research that finds significant improvements in mortality for hospitalized patients in the U.S. with systemic lupus, but there remains a high mortality rate among blacks and Hispanics with SLE, and, now among Asian/Pacific Islanders with the condition. Learn more in this interview.

May 13, 2020

Outcomes for patients with lupus nephritis, which can lead to irreversible renal impairment, can be improved with better measures to evaluate risk and detect early disease, along with new treatments, say researchers writing in Nature Reviews Rheumatology.

April 23, 2020

This week, the National Institutes of Health issued treatment guidelines for the management of COVID-19. It does not include the use of pharmaceutical agents for pre or post-exposure prophylaxis, including hydroxychloroquine, except for within the confines of a clinical trial. This comes as good news to the rheumatology community. More in this article.

April 02, 2020

A 16-year-old African American girl reports sudden erythema covering her nose, cheeks, and upper back. Can you diagnose this patient?