Andrew Smith

The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association have released new clinical performance and quality measures designed to speed the adoption of guidelines issued last year for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Analysis of 2 large health worker cohorts suggests that people can reduce their risk of developing diabetes by preparing more of their meals at home.

Most psoriatic arthritis patients can maintain low disease activity on reduced doses of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors — but patients who experience flares after switching to the lower dose can struggle to regain control over their disease.

An analysis of medical records from Texas indicates that alcohol consumption reduces the risk of myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure but increases the risk of atrial fibrillation.

A long-term outcomes trial finds that, compared to placebo, use of the diabetes medication liraglutide (Victoza) is associated with lower rates of nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death.

Analysis of a Danish registry found that a switch from infliximab (Remicade) to a biosimilar called Remsima did not appear to change disease activity status or increase the risk of flares in patients with psoriatic arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.

New consensus guidelines for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) recommend, for the first time, that metabolic surgery be recommended or considered as an intervention for many obese patients.

Study results show that women with atrial fibrillation are less likely to receive recommended thromboprophylaxis medications than men, and patients age 85 and older are often treated with aspirin as the sole antithrombotic agent.

An observational study of psoriatic arthritis patients indicated that initial levels of C-reactive protein are correlated with a poor response to disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and the eventual need for treatment with tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors.

Investigators from Washington University and Harvard University have used stem cells derived from patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus to produce cells that secrete insulin in both cultures and mice.

Retrospective analysis of trial data has found that women with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation faced an elevated risk of cancer as well.

Patients with psoriatic arthritis experience significant disease-related distress, including suicidal ideation, they are often ill-equipped to cope with.

Encouraging results from a small study suggest that a combination of compounds found in grapes and oranges could help treat diabetes and protect against cardiovascular disease in obese patients.

A randomized trial found no benefits — and several large drawbacks — in the use of ablations guided by focal impulse and rotor modulation in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Researchers report that patients with psoriatic arthritis face significantly higher risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity compared with the general population.

Analysis of trial data found that etanercept monotherapy treats psoriatic arthritis as effectively as the combination of etanercept and methotrexate.

Researchers found that as-needed use of novel oral anticoagulants can effectively lower stroke risk in “motivated†patients with atrial fibrillation.

An analysis of population-based medical databases has found that strokes are more likely to prove fatal in diabetic patients who use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) than in diabetic patients who do not.

Researchers have concluded that there is a small but significant genetic component to the observed connection between high body mass index (BMI) and psoriasis.

A new trial has found that 8 weeks on a very low-calorie diet can reverse all signs of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in many patients for at least 6 months.

A retrospective analysis of Swedish cohort data indicates that warfarin is effective enough to remain a valid alternative to novel oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation.

A trial of patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation found that 90 days of postoperative antiarrhythmic drugs reduces the short-term — but not the long-term — rate of recurrent atrial fibrillation.

An analysis of health records indicates that smoking is not associated with joint damage in psoriatic arthritis patients.

A study of Swedish and Danish twins concluded that the long-observed association between type 2 diabetes mellitus and depression has a significant genetic component.

An analysis of records from the Toronto Psoriatic Arthritis Cohort concluded that baseline characteristics can help predict which patients will and will not develop erosions.

Top-line results from a phase 3 trial indicate that twice-daily tofacitinib 5 mg and 10 mg are both superior to placebo in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis.

A new analysis of serious bleeds among patients who use the blood thinner warfarin to treat atrial fibrillation found that consideration of anticoagulation quality would improve the accuracy of 3 bleeding risk scores.

Investigators have used data from more than 20,000 atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients to develop and validate a biomarker-based risk score that predicted major bleeding in those patients better than 2 widely used alternatives.

A large study found no need for transesophageal echocardiography in atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients who use novel oral anticoagulants for at least 4 weeks before undergoing catheter ablation.

Several symptoms, including nail pitting and uveitis, may indicate an increased risk for developing psoriatic arthritis.