Low Risk of Malignancy with Secukinumab

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Analysis of ongoing safety from the secukinumab (SEC) drug development program shows a low risk for malignancy in SEC patients treated for up to five years for either psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis (PsA) or ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

DMARD Dropouts During COVID-19

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A full year from the onset of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, rheumatologists are still seeing the consequences of COVID, with many patients avoiding usual care, follow-up visits, routine lab testing and with many self-stopping their antirheumatic meds, because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Anti-inflammatory Diet Control of Rheumatoid Arthritis

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The TOMORROW study assessed the relationship between diet and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and has shown that RA patients are more likely to have higher inflammatory diets, but that a change to an anti-inflammatory diet resulted in lower disease activity s

RheumNow Podcast – Mistakes with Steroids

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Dr Jack Cush gives his spin on this week's RheumNews and Rheum Research from RheumNow.com.

Overview of New VEXAS Syndrome

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Medscape offers up an informative overview of the newly described syndrome called VEXAS discovered by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

GLP-1 Therapy in Knee Osteoarthritis

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Knee osteoarthritis is best managed by weight loss, as the effects of most analgesic therapies have been marginal and debatable. The use of anti-diabetic glucagon-like peptide-1 therapies have demonstrated significant weight loss benefits; hence this trial evaluated the potential weight loss and pain relieving effects of liraglutide in obese patients with KOA.

Can Targeting RANKL in RA Heal Erosions?

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Treatment with denosumab (Prolia) helped heal bone erosions over 2 years among patients with rheumatoid arthritis whose disease activity was well controlled, researchers reported.

Implementing Smoking Cessation Programs

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Rheumatologists are keen to the effects of smoking (increased arthritis risk, worse outcomes, blunted DMARD responses, added cardiopulmonary risks), but often do not have the resources or plan to encourage or implement smoking cessation from the rheumatology clinic. A new study details the success of a rheumatology staff‐driven protocol, Quit Connect, to increase the rate of electronic referrals to free, state‐run tobacco quit lines.

Rheumatology Care Derailed by COVID-19

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A survey study from the  ArthritisPower PPRN or CreakyJoints database shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic patient care was substantially affected in unforeseen ways.

Reactogenicity Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

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JAMA has published the real-world reporting of mRNA vaccine side effects (reactogenicity) gathered from CDC V-safe Surveillance system and shows that local and systemic reactions were often mild and transient and most commonly seen during the first day following their second dose.

Cost Efficacy of Knee Replacement in Obese Osteoarthritis

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Total knee replacement (TKR) in obese patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis appears to be a beneficial and cost-effective strategy for treating. The only potential limitation is a greater risk for adverse events in those with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 kg/m2 or greater.

Rituximab in Systemic Sclerosis?

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No drug is FDA approved to manage the skin or joint complaints of systemic sclerosis (SSc); a recent metanalysis suggests that rituximab may improve skin score and disease activity indices (DAS, mRSS) while stabilizing organ involvement in SSc patients.