Katie Eder

Although methotrexate with or without glucocorticoids (GCs) is commonly used as a first-line treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), study results show that combining the medication with two other traditional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) produces better outcomes in newly-diagnosed RA patients.

Noting that it takes an average of 5 years before a fibromyalgia patient receives a diagnosis, researchers conducted a retrospective data analysis to identify significant variables that may enable earlier detection and diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Children born to mothers diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may be twice as likely to develop autism as those whose mothers don't have the chronic autoimmune disease.

Middle-aged adults who engage in up to two and a half hours of moderate physical activity aren't at an increased risk of developing knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Though former imaging studies have proposed that white matter dysfunction predicts the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), a recent study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that those previous researchers were concentrating on the wrong area of the brain.

In light of the recent national push to promote breastfeeding, a new study provides guidance for mothers who extend their breastfeeding duration by frequently sharing a bed with their infants, yet also put their babies at greater risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation death.

Mary Lynn McPherson, PharmD, BCPS, CPE, FASPE, shows healthcare professionals how to apply an equianalgesic opioid dosing chart to 12 complicated patient cases requiring an opioid switch.

Fifteen posters presented at PAINWeek 2013 demonstrate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of a novel controlled-release combination oxycodone-acetaminophen analgesic in acute pain patients.

Post-hoc analysis of phase III clinical study results finds lubiprostone doesn't interfere with the analgesic effect of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain patients with opioid-induced constipation.

Although clinical psychiatrist Michael E. Schatman, PhD, CPE, formerly "beat the hell out of the opioid industry," he spent an hour on the PAINWeek stage supporting his new belief that "maybe it's time to stop fighting."

Two literature reviews of single-arm open-label (OL), open-label extension (OLE), and epidemiologic studies with a duration of six months or more provide evidence that long-term opioid therapy improves pain scores in chronic non-cancer pain patients.

In a cohort of family medicine physicians, researchers found a strong inverse relationship between confidence and comfort toward opioid prescribing and concern about negative consequences.

As the doctor shopping rate for immediate-release single entity oxycodone increased by 9 percent, reformulated extended-release OxyContin's doctor shopping rate fell by 40 percent.

Lisa M. McElhaney addresses the limited education, awareness, and prevention of bullying within pain management practices.

Commander John J. Burke details how pain management practitioners can adequately protect themselves from prescription drug diverters without hurting their legitimate patients.

Jennifer E. Bolen, JD, says it's the responsibility of physicians - not labs - to ensure drug testing reports comply with federal and state guidelines in the event of an audit.

Michael R. Clark, MD, MPH, MBA, outlines the vulnerabilities that put patients with acute pain at risk of transitioning into new chronic pain.

A panel of three experts from the legal side of pain management said investigations into prescribers after patient deaths resulting from opioid overdose are rare and overblown.

In a study published in Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, a professor in the Department of Digestive System at Xingtai People's Hospital in China, investigated the correlation between psychological status and the mechanism of action of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D).

In a clinical review published in Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology, researchers from Iwate Medical University in Japan evaluated the long-term safety and efficacy of the novel serotonin-receptor agonist ramosetron in patients suffering from diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D).

Even when it's administered in a low-dose form that resists gastric acid and prevents tablet dissolution in the stomach, aspirin therapy causes peptic ulcer and increases the risk of 30-day mortality resulting from gastrointestinal (GI) disorder progression.

Scaling up preventative isoniazid therapy can curb tuberculosis development and related death in patients infected with HIV, according to research published online Aug. 16 in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Though patients may not disclose suicidal thoughts and behaviors to their physicians, their blood test results can be dead giveaways.

Fibromyalgia patients who don't respond to Lyrica (pregabalin) may see their pain scores significantly improve after adding Savella (milnacipran) to their treatment regimens.

Despite the pervasiveness of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, undertreatment and nontreatment of even the most severe forms of those systemic rheumatic diseases are widespread in the United States.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new tablet to treat a broad population of HIV-infected adults and children in combination with other antiretroviral (ARV) agents.

Though memory concerns voiced by older adult patients often get dismissed as normal cognitive aging, a study from two national centers devoted to Alzheimer's disease research suggests cognitive complaints from at least two sources can accurately predict a non-demented patient's risk of developing dementia.

As the risk assessment of suicide attempts remains tremendously challenging due to the lack of clinical markers, researchers across five different countries studied the pathological significance of psychotic symptoms in terms of their influence on suicidal behavior.

A group of researchers has identified two polymorphic sites on mitochondrial ATP (MT-ATP) genes that may play a significant role in the functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder.

Though EMD Serono's Novantrone (mitoxantrone) injection is the only drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), progressive-relapsing multiple sclerosis (PRMS), or worsening relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), its use is associated with significant risks.