The HCPLive Rheumatology condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on rheumatologic disease. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for arthritis, gout, nr-AxSpA, and more.
October 6th 2024
The rheumatology month in review emphasizes new trends in medication use and novel technologies' potential for managing fibromyalgia.
Collaborating Across the Continuum™: The Role of Multidisciplinary Care in the Management of Patients with Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
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Cases and Conversations™: Applying Best Practices to Prevent Shingles in Your Practice
October 16, 2024
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Tackling Inequities in IBD: Inclusive Solutions for Elevated Patient Care
October 26, 2024
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6th Annual Advanced Practice Collaborative
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SimulatED™: Personalizing Treatment Choices to Achieve Glycemic and Weight Management Goals
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Cases and Conversations™: Keeping Up with Novel Approaches to Managing ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
November 18, 2024
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Shaping the Management of COPD with Biologic Therapy
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Elevating Care for PAH: Applying Recommended Management Approaches to Maximize Outcomes
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Clinical Consultations™: Managing Depressive Episodes in Patients with Bipolar Disorder Type II
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Expert Illustrations & Commentaries™: Exploring the Role of Novel Agents for the Management of IgA Nephropathy
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Medical Crossfire®: Understanding the Advances in Bipolar Disease Treatment—A Comprehensive Look at Treatment Selection Strategies
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'REEL’ Time Patient Counseling: The Diagnostic and Treatment Journey for Patients With Bipolar Disorder Type II – From Primary to Specialty Care
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‘REEL’ Time Patient Counseling™: Navigating the Complex Journey of Diagnosing and Managing Fabry Disease
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Expert Illustrations & Commentaries™: Envisioning Novel Therapeutic Approaches to Managing ANCA-associated Vasculitis
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Clinical ShowCase™: Finding the Best Path Forward for Patients with COPD
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A Tethered Approach to Type 2 Diabetes Care – Connecting Insulin Regimens with Digital Technology
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Surv.AI Says™: What Clinicians and Patients Are Saying About Glucose Management in the Technology Age
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Clinical ShowCase™: Forming a Personalized Treatment Plan for a Patient With ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
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Addressing Healthcare Inequities: Tailoring Cancer Screening Plans to Address Inequities in Care
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SimulatED™: Diagnosing and Treating Alzheimer’s Disease in the Modern Era
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Patient, Provider & Caregiver Connection™: Implementing an Effective Management Plan to Improve Outcomes in IgA Nephropathy
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Neuromuscular training puts a stop to lower limb injuries
April 26th 2010Proprioceptive and neuromuscular training help reduce the incidence of some types of injuries among adolescent and young adult athletes participating in sports that involve pivoting. Balance exercises and multi-interventional training programs (balance plus strength and flexibility maneuvers) may be particularly effective in preventing basketball, soccer, handball, and floorball injuries.
Ankylosing Spondylitis Best Identified With Erosions on MRI
April 26th 2010For patients who have ankylosing spondylitis (AS), radiographic assessment of the sacroiliac joint with MRI is the cornerstone of evaluation and treatment. Erosions alone-rather than bone marrow edema or contrast medium enhancement-are the most disease-specific measurable imaging findings in sacroiliac MRI of patients with AS in clinical practice.
Cardiovascular benefits with statins outweigh diabetes risk
April 26th 2010There is a small absolute risk of diabetes mellitus (DM) in patients who receive statin therapy, but that risk is easily outweighed by the benefit that statins provide in reducing cardiovascular (CV) events. Therefore, clinical practice does not need to change for patients with moderate or high CV risk or existing CV disease.
Improve microvascular dysfunction and RA, reduce cardiovascular risk, with antirheumatics
April 26th 2010Microvascular dysfunction correlates with systemic inflammation, which plays a key role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) as well as in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In patients who have active RA, microvascular dysfunction improves in those who respond to antirheumatic treatment; aggressive control of RA disease activity helps avoid further joint damage and disability and may reduce CVD risk.
Study Reveals Potential New Test for Early Osteoarthritis Detection
April 23rd 2010Scientists have discovered new methods for measuring biological markers in the blood, which can be used according to diagnose osteoarthritis earlier, according to a public release from King's College London's Department if Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology.
Why the iPad Will Not Be Used for Healthcare IT
April 15th 2010Some health care IT industry heavyweights have gone so far as to suggest that the iPad will be greatly utilized in the healthcare setting and revolutionize the way we do business. While I do think the iPad is incredibly shiny and is great computer replacement for your grandma, I think it's a bit of an exaggeration to suggest that it will ever be fully adopted by healthcare IT shops.
Hyperchondriasis - a "New Age" Somatoform Disorder
April 13th 2010Modern medicine's technological advances now allow more people to live long enough to develop chronic diseases where the mortality is low but the morbidity high. Hyperchondriacs are acutely aware of this, and perceive great threats in their aging and the future. Hyperchondriacs have similar attributes to hypochondrial patients even as they lack the attendant "symptoms" of a physiologic illness.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia: Moving away from tender points
April 12th 2010Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is not a novel entity-there has been interest in unexplained pain syndromes since antiquity (Figure 1). The earliest research focused on the symptom of “muscle hardenings,” which may be the equivalent of musculoskeletal symptoms that patients with FMS describe today.
Rational Use of Opioid Analgesics in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain
April 11th 2010Throughout history, various forms of morphine have been the most effective medications in relieving pain. Opioid analgesics-the natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic derivatives of morphine-are used routinely in the management of acute musculoskeletal pain. However, myths and misunderstandings about these drugs often prevent primary care physicians from prescribing them for chronic pain, such as that seen in common musculoskeletal conditions (eg, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis [OA], osteoporosis, and low back pain [LBP]). Although pain is one of the most common symptoms that bring patients to the physician’s office, those with chronic musculoskeletal or other noncancer pain all too often are undertreated.
Knee surgery scores points with athletes and older patients with arthritis
April 8th 2010Older patients with advanced knee osteoarthritis (OA) who have undergone total knee replacement (TKR) surgery experience significantly improved dynamic balance in addition to pain relief and improved function, according to a study presented at the recent American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting in New Orleans. In another study, researchers found that patients may participate in high-impact sports activities after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) without increasing the risk of early implant failure-and may even achieve better clinical scores.
Will the iPad Create Solutions in Healthcare?
The highly coveted iPad was released last weekend, and those who were fortunate enough to acquire the new gadget have been quick to discuss what kind of impact it will have on just about any industry. But what kind of impact will the iPad have on healthcare?
Exercise and pregnancy: What patients need to know
April 7th 2010Virtually all health care professionals who responded to a recent survey thought that exercise is good medicine for expecting mothers. However, 60% of the physicians and 86% of the doctors of osteopathy were not familiar with current pregnancy exercise guidelines.
Fracture prediction models are sex- and site-specific
April 6th 2010Prediction of fractures is specific for the patient’s sex and the site of bone mineral density (BMD) measurement. This finding challenges the practice of using similar models-and of measuring BMD at the hip only-to predict fracture risk for men and for women.
Vitamin D deficiency linked with osteoarthritis in older men
April 6th 2010There is a high prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) deficiency in older men who have radiographic hip osteoarthritis (OA). Because 25(OH)D plays a significant role in bone and cartilage maintenance, therapeutic interventions with vitamin D are warranted to augment their skeletal health.
Caution: MRI has low specificity for RA
April 6th 2010MRI abnormalities that resemble rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathologies often are found in the metacarpophalangeal and wrist joints of healthy persons. Although MRI is highly sensitive for tracking the progression of erosions, it has low specificity for RA, suggesting caution in the interpretation of joint lesions on MRI, especially in early arthritis.
Exercise training in the primary care setting reduces patients’ anxiety symptoms
April 6th 2010Exercise training provides an effective means for reducing anxiety symptoms, with minimal risk of adverse events. Anxiety reduction is a favorable outcome of exercise interventions that were designed as a primary treatment or adjuvant for medical conditions other than anxiety.
Comorbidity patterns vary with rheumatologic disease
April 6th 2010Separate patterns of comorbidity are identified in patients who have fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and noninflammatory rheumatic disorders (NIRD). The patterns include the type of comorbid variables reported and their associations with age and disease duration.