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The Consequences and Cure of Hepatitis C

I spent this past week seeing hepatitis C patients with our hepatologists, and being a rheumatologist, I was looking forward to seeing extra-hepatic manifestations of HCV that we read about in text-books - cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, sicca syndrome, porphyria cutanea tarda and many others. I suppose I should not be surprised that the week passed without seeing a single one of these. 

The RheumNow Week in Review - 23 March 2018

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the news, journals and major meetings. New announcements and approval from the FDA; novel associations between ANCA vasculitis and thyroid disease; flare rates after arthroplasty; and pregnancy outcomes for men and women.

Tai Chi Eases Fibromyalgia Pain

The mind-body practice of tai chi was as effective or better than currently recommended aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia, a randomized controlled trial demonstrated.

Risk of Paternal Exposure to Anti-Rheumatic Drugs

Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism features a review of the effects of paternal use of antirheumatic drugs on pregnancy, specifically addressing the effects of NSAIDs, steroids, DMARDs and biologics on spermatogenesis and the effect on pregnancy outcomes and offspring.

mTOR Inhibition with Sirolimus Effective in Lupus

Lancet reports that 12 months of sirolimus treatment is associated with improvement in lupus disease activity presumeably by correction of pro-inflammatory T-cell activity.

Shoe Inserts Disappoint with Plantar Heel Pain

A report from the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that commonly used drug store shoe inserts or customized orthotics are often ineffective in managing plantar heel pain.

Novel Approach to Knee Osteoarthritis Pain

Geniculate artery embolization was found to dampen knee pain arising from osteoarthritis, according to interim study results presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology.

Time to Rethink Gout as a Chronic Disease

The current issue of JAMA has a perspective article on Gout’s bad rap as dietary disease rather than the complex, chronic inflammatory disorder that is ineffectively treated in many. 

Using Synovial Tissue Biopsies to Develop Precision Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Researchers at Northwestern University have used ultrasound-guided tissue biopsy from the joints to analyze the genes of tissue macrophages with the hope that transcriptional profiling of synovial macrophages may be correlated with clinical parameters or drug responsiveness in rheumatoi

MMWR: Arthritis Prevalence Increases and Varies Widely

MMWR reports that In 2015, the number of adults with arthritis continued to increase; with marked geographic variability in arthritis estimates with gaps in arthritis management.

Repeat Malignancy Unlikely with Biologic Therapy

Research from the Danish biologics registry shows that the use of a biologic in patients with a history of a primary cancer does not increase the risk of a second malignant neoplasm (SMN) or mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

The RheumNow Week in Review - 16 March 2018

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the news, journals and major meetings. Bigtime rheumatologic lessons with tales from intestinal crypts, the friendly skies & the hips of hockey players. Also the microbiome and lupus, benefits of ENT findings with GPA and rare risk of opportunistic infections with biologics.

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