Bryant England, MD, PhD, discusses his study, "Risk of COVID‐19 in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A National Veterans Affairs Matched Cohort Study in At‐Risk Individuals." Investigators found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are not only at a higher risk for contracting COVID-19, they are more likely to have severe outcomes, such as hospitalization and death, when compared with the general population.
A recent study explores the correlation between work obligations and anxiety in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Poor quality of life due to self-isolation has been reported in this patient population.
"Our results suggest that there are likely to be certain treatments that will confer preferential response in psoriatic arthritis (PsA), including tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors and IL-17 medications, compared to other options," stated Jeffrey Curtis, MD.
New data show NSAIDs treatment not associated with worse in-hospital mortality rates compared to patients not treated with NSAIDs.
Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending May 7, 2021.
New data show rheumatoid arthritis and immunosuppressive treatment associated with more severe risks of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death.
Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are more likely to suffer from knee-related symptoms and impaired activities of daily living, indicating a possible link between hyperandrogenism and early clinical osteoarthritis.
An analysis of data from more than 12,000 women in Asia is shedding new light on the prognostic value of BMD for predicting risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in aging women.
Catch up on Rheumatology Network's most recent highlights in psoriatic arthritis news.
Both patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) and those at-risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had a significantly different oral microbiome when compared with a control group. Most notably, the pro-inflammatory discriminative zero-radius operational taxonomic units (zOTUs), Prevotella and Veillonella, were much more prevalent in these groups than in patients with no history of autoimmune conditions.
Patients with oligoarticular psoriatic arthritis (PsA) receiving apremilast monotherapy fared better than those who initiated methotrexate (MTX) therapy or biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) initiators.
A new study is challenging the notion that certain types of fractures, such as lower arm or wrist fractures, do not signal increased risk of subsequent fractures among postmenopausal women.
Patients receiving csDMARDs had a significant reduction (40%) in non-serious infection (NSI) risk when compared with biologics.
Poorer results were associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES) and not being able to access telehealth, which emphasizes the need for access to healthcare and attention to vulnerable populations, such as those with rheumatic diseases, during the pandemic.
While men with inflammatory arthritis drink significantly more alcohol and have less severe disease activity, alcohol is not linked to disease remission.
A UK-based study indicated that patients with RA were more likely to have severe COVID-19 outcomes, including death. However, patients with gout did not appear to have an increased risk.
Rheumatoid arthritis increases cardiovascular risk and the risk of heart attack, but by how much and what impact does treatment have on that risk? Test your knowledge in this quiz.
Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending April 30, 2021.
The SPIN-CHAT Program was developed by investigators in order to help participants deal with isolation and learn better mental health coping mechanisms.
A study characterizing frailty in patients with rheumatoid arthritis finds psychosocial factors could be more important determinants than aging.
“In this large, multiethnic, single-center, cohort study of children born to anti-Ro antibody positive mothers, the child’s ethnicity was not associated with NLE risk, nor specific NLE manifestations,” stated investigators.
Investigators observed that patients treated with secukinumab were more likely to achieve Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 75/90/100 responses and Investigator’s Global Assessment (IGA) improvement at 52 weeks than those administered usetkinumab, regardless of their psoriatic arthritis (PsA) status.
“The sustained benefits for patients with active psoriatic arthritis across multiple domains indicate that guselkumab may offer a novel mechanism by which to provide extended improvements in the diverse manifestations of psoriatic arthritis,” Laura Coates, PhD, and team concluded.
A comparison of pooled phase 3 data showed patients treated with the IL-17A inhibitor fared better than those on ustekinumab, without influence from their PsA status.
A post-hoc analysis shows that the human monoclonal antibody was linked to sustained improvements according to different disease measurements through week 52.
Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending April 23, 2021.
Mindfulness interventions teach and promote the use of psychological skills to improve quality of life among individuals with chronic conditions like rheumatic disease. These interventions largely act by reducing pain-related activation in the sensory cortex and increasing activity in the cingulate cortex, the area of the brain responsible for learning, memory, and processing bodily sensations, like pain.
Investigators discovered that women with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) have an overall higher disease burden and more peripheral manifestations when compared with men. They further theorized that awareness of these differences and the way the condition presents differently in both sexes may be used to more easily identify axSpA and improve disease management.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a poorer prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI) than patients without RA, and longer RA disease duration and glucocorticoid use before MI are associated with higher mortality and recurrent MI.
A majority of studies reported a worsening of disease activity post-delivery.
