Rheumatology

There is a strong dose-dependent association between sleep problems and the risk of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) in women.

The sensitivity, specificity, and feasibility of the ClASsification criteria for Psoriatic ARthritis (CASPAR) are maintained when they are adapted for retrospective use to classify an established research cohort from medical records.

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), low pain thresholds reflect "fibromyalgic" RA (many tender points) and central pain sensitization with a prolonged disease duration.

Disease burden in patients with a new diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) changes over the first 5 years.

Statins help reduce total cholesterol (TC) concentrations in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Disk degeneration is significantly more likely to occur in adults who are overweight or obese than in those who have a normal body mass index (BMI), a study found.

The rate of incident malignancy is 4 times higher in children who have juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) than in those who do not, according to new research.

More than half of women who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have fewer children than desired, according to a new study.

Better rheumatoid arthritis treatments may be reducing the need for potentially dangerous joint replacements, say Mayo Clinic researchers.

Defensive medicine-ordering tests, making referrals to specialists, and approving hospital admissions primarily to avoid liability and without providing significant benefit to patients-has been practiced by virtually all orthopedic surgeons, according to a study presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in San Francisco.

RA ranks among the common chronic illnesses with the worst quality of life.

Fibromyalgia syndrome has been fraught with ambiguity in diagnosis, uncertainty in understanding of the pathophysiology behind its myriad symptoms, and difficulties that physicians face in managing it competently.

SLE can manifest as lymphadenopathy. This man fulfilled at least 4 diagnostic criteria for SLE, including rash and blood results.

Initial treatment of plantar fasciitis is based on finding ways to reduce stress applied to the plantar fascia. Surgery for plantar fasciitis may be indicated if prolonged attempts at nonoperative correction are unsuccessful.

A 49-year-old African American man was referred to rheumatology with a positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA) test result, constitutional symptoms, and lymphadenopathy.

More effective management of rheumatoid arthritis with medication may be contributing to a decline in the need for joint surgery in patients with the condition, Mayo Clinic researchers have found.

(AUDIO) Data from a long-term prospective study reveal that, for many older women, the pace of bone mass deterioration takes place on the scale of decades, not single years. Here, the lead author of the study describes how to interpret the results to choose the date for your own patient's next bone-density test.

Osteoporosis would develop in fewer than 10% of older, postmenopausal women during rescreening intervals of about 15 years for those with normal bone density or mild osteopenia, 5 years for those with moderate osteopenia, and 1 year for those with advanced osteopenia, according to a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In patients with lupus nephritis who have a response to induction therapy, mycophenolate mofetil is superior to azathioprine in maintaining a renal response to treatment and in preventing relapse, according to the results of a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Topics and dates for an expanded nationwide education series, Lupus: Learn from the Experts, were announced by the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA).

If DMARDs are not able to relieve RA pain, little else works either, according to systematic reviews.

Heart and overall health are known to improve with weight loss, but your patients' joints may benefit as well.

Lack of conviction and motivation, not pain or depression, appear to be the major factors that deter nearly half of RA patients from moving about enough to ease their symptoms. Chicago researchers suggest what should be done about this.

Glucocorticoid therapy appears to help reduce the amount of citrullination in the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients, researchers have found.

More than two in five adults with rheumatoid arthritis are physically inactive, to the detriment of their health, researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine report in a study published online today in Arthritis Care & Research.

Doctors may be halting use of anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) medications too early in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who are set to undergo surgery, researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City have found.

Biopsy-proven lupus nephritis (LN) may be an affair of the heart as much as of the kidneys, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Rheumatology.

It's that time of year when the clock has been turned back, days are shorter, and less time is spent outside in bright sunlight. It's also the time when vitamin D levels naturally decline.

A potential way to halt the cartilage destruction that occurs with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) without suppressing the immune system has been identified by a new study supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).

A year of historic lupus firsts generated during 2011 contributed to advances in the science and medicine of lupus, improved lupus awareness, and heightened understanding of the disease and its impact, according to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA).