Rheumatology

American College of Rheumatology recommendations for treating rheumatoid arthritis with disease-modifying drugs had little effect on prescribing practices.

Observing rheumatoid arthritis patients in a systematic way allows rigorous analysis of pain and function. Learn how in this review.

Besides new guidelines on assessing rheumatoid arthritis, the American College of Rheumatology has updated treatment guidance. A panel member reviews the highlights.

Measuring rheumatoid arthritis symptoms is the focus of new American College of Rheumatology guidelines. An ACR panel member tells how they help assess RA.

Fibromyalgia syndrome patients with pregabalin in a polysomnography study had significantly better sleep and less pain.

The American College of Rheumatology weighs in on DMARDs: using and changing, high-risk patients, vaccinations, and more.

For assessing rheumatoid arthritis severity, six standardized measures pass muster with the American College of Rheumatology.

According to a report from the HHS, pediatric rheumatology is not represented among 30-40% of US medical schools and pediatric residency programs and, perhaps even more alarming, the report found that 13 states lack a single pediatric rheumatologist.

Assessing function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a challenging but important part of the rheumatology office visit.

The cause of neck pain, or cervicalgia, can usually be identified by history and physical exam. Learn the provocative maneuvers and "red flag" symptoms to exclude malignancy and reveal radiculopathy or myelpathy.

The original antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) classification criteria (the Sapporo criteria), published in 1999, helped galvanize research in this disorder.1 New clinical, laboratory, and experimental insights gained since then were addressed at the Eleventh International Congress on Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Sydney, Australia, in 2006.

Daily activities and occupational identity may be affected profoundly in the first 12 months after a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), resulting in significant life changes.

A walking plus resistance training (WRT) intervention is more effective than walking for improving several body composition measures and glucose control in overweight and obese African American women.

In persons with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), incident thrombotic events are associated with a somewhat high risk of acute work loss and musculoskeletal manifestations and neuropsychiatric events with more delayed work loss.

The presence of crystals alone in synovial fluid in patients with acute monoarthritis cannot exclude infection, because septic arthritis and crystal arthritis often coexist.

Low-energy diet–induced weight loss leads to independent losses of leg muscle tissue and absolute knee muscle strength in obese patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Fewer than half of patient visits to US physicians with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a nationally representative sample were associated with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD).

New classification criteria for Sjögren syndrome (SS) released by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) call for collaboration among the medical specialties that regularly provide treatment for the condition-rheumatology, ophthalmology, and oral medicine.

Patients who are receiving opioid analgesics for chronic pain but are not substance-dependent or addicted often experience cravings to take more medication, according to researchers from the Harvard Medical School.

Severe obesity in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is associated with higher levels of FMS symptoms and lower levels of quality of life, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Women aged 50 years and older who experience worsening pain with aging also are at higher risk for depression, obesity, and declining physical function, according to researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle.

The FDA recently issued draft guidance documents on the development of biosimilars-biological products that are highly similar to currently approved ones, with minor differences in clinically inactive components-to help bring such products into the market.

Pain is the most important predictor of psychosocial health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to researchers at the University Hospitals of Geneva and University of Geneva in Switzerland.

The first-ever classification criteria for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), a common cause of widespread pain and stiffness in older patients, are designed to help physicians better identify patients who have this condition.

(AUDIO) Guidelines recommend some integrative approaches for low back pain, particularly spinal manipulation and massage. Here Dr. Wolf Mehling of University of California-San Francisco describes the options and the outcomes.

Are there better ways to manage osteoarthritis? Stop seeing it as isolated acute episodes, says the head of the US Bone and Joint Initiative, and she tells how.

Anterior hip pain sometimes arises from iliopsoas bursitis, which may present as a groin mass. Pain may be referred to the abdomen, thigh, or knee.

Exercises to promote strengthening, conditioning, and pain control are prescribed regularly as part of the “medical armamentarium.”

Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF), also known as Shulman disease and diffuse fasciitis with eosinophilia, is an uncommon condition that often is confused with scleroderma because they have similar features.

Musculoskeletal problems are some of the main reasons why patients go to physicians or other health care professionals.