Weekly Link Roundup 06/14/2012

  1. Ultrasound’s Role in Early Diagnosis Expected to Grow— musculoskeletal ultrasound is emerging as a technique for early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. A noninvasive, painless technique, it allows multiple joints to be assessed quickly and is less costly than an MRI. Still, few rheumatologists have adopted this ultrasound technique into their practices. Read more to find out why.


  2. SLE Remission Less Likely With Immunosuppressive Agents— A new study finds that some patients with SLE may be more likely than others to experience prolonged remission. Out of over 1500 patient participants, only 2% achieved a remission lasting at least five years on no medication or anti-malarial drugs. Patients achieving this prolonged remission were more likely to be caucasian, had milder disease activity, and less likely to have involvement of certain organ systems and less likely to have received steroids/immunosuppressants prior to remission. 

     
  3. Lung Infections More Common Among Anti-TNF Users— Patients taking anti-tumor necrosis factor medications are four times more likely to develop mycobacterial diseases than patients not taking anti-TNF medication, and up to 14 times more likely to die from said diseases.
     
     
  4. Scientists Discover a Cell-Signaling Pathway that May Lead to New RA Treatment— researchers from the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York have found that a communication pathway called the Notch pathway may contribute to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.  Previous studies associated a certain mutation in a gene involved in the Notch pathway with a higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis, but it wasn’t clear why, so researchers at HSS sought to figure out whether this molecular pathway played any role in the immune system failures that cause arthritis. The study findings suggest that drugs currently being developed for the treatment of cancer and Alzheimer’s may also treat RA. Click to learn more about Notch-inhibitors and what this study means for you.


Weekly Link Roundup 05/30/2012

  1. Could a Urine Test Predict Response to Biologic Medication? A new study suggests that urinalysis may be able to predict if Rheumatoid Arthritis patients are likely to respond to biologic medication. The study found a direct correlation between metabolites tested and Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha. RA patients who responded well to anti-TNF therapy had a distinct metabolomic profile compared with those who did not have a good response.

     
  2. Smokers Less Likely to Respond to Biologic Treatment for RA— Another reason to stop smoking! Rheumatoid Arthritis patients are significantly less likely to respond well to Anti-TNF medication. In a study of 359 patients, only 27% of smokers responded to treatment. A similar result was found in smokers being treated with Rituximab.

     
  3. Rheumatoid Vasculitis 5 Year Mortality is 60%— What does this mean? According to an analysis of 34 cases identified in a UK-based patient registry, five-year mortality following a diagnosis of RA vasculitis sits at about 60%. Read more to learn about the significance of this finding.

     
  4. Panel Recommends Tofacitinib Approval for Refractory RA— A new, oral disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) may be on the way, the first in over 10 years to be approved for treating Rheumatoid Arthritis. Tofactinib is a JAK inhibitor that blocks inflammatory cytokines that play a role in the pathogenesis of RA. If approved, the DMARD would be the very first JAK (Janus kinase) inhibitor for the disease. 

Weekly Link Roundup 05/11/2012

  1. Association Between Rheumatoid Arthritis & Systemic Bone Loss Highlights the Importance of Omega-3 Anti-Inflamatory Diet—  Has your rheumatologist ever suggested you take fish oil? It’s widely known as an anti-inflammatory supplement, but here’s just one more reason why those of you with inflammatory autoimmune diseases should consider it: a new study published by Arthritis International found that the genes that produce IL-6 (inflammatory agent that plays a key role in RA) and NF-kB (gene that produces the “switch” of inflammation”) may be moderated and inhibited by dietary intake of Omega-3. 
     
     
  2. Scientists Pinpoint Three HLA Proteins Linked to Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis— researchers have pinpointed five amino acids in three HLA proteins that explain most of the association between major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis. In simple terms: “about 1/3 of the genetic risk for [RA] comes from MHC— and most of that comes from three separate proteins.” Read more to learn about the implications of the findings and the next step for researchers.

     
  3. GlaxoSmithKline Criticizes NHS Pharmaceutical Approval Body Over Rejecting Lupus Drug — The UK’s largest drug company has “launched a forthright attack” on the NHS’s drug rationing group, accusing it of halting innovation after it failed to approve the first new medication in over a decade to treat Lupus, leaving patients in the UK behind.

     
  4. Does the Affordable Care Act Help or Hurt Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients?— an opinion piece written by Forbes contributor Jayne Jung, the piece begs the question of whether the ACA will help or hurt us RA patients. While the ACA has the ability to increase quality care for RA patients, the American College of Rheumatology warns that the act may end up rewarding primary care physicians more than rheumatologists and how this may impact rheumatology patients.

Weekly Link Roundup 04/04/2012

  1. Researchers Use Novel Methods to Uncover Gene Mutations for [Rheumatoid Arthritis]— A new study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers found that variation in hundreds of locations throughout the genome might explain 20% of Rheumatoid Arthritis risk, after excluding all known genetic risk factors.


  2. People With Multiple Chronic Illnesses Have Trouble Coordinating Care— A new study finds that those who suffer from multiple chronic illness, especially young individuals, report difficulty with care coordination.


  3. Method for Clearing Cellular Debris Provides New Targets for Lupus Treatment— a study released in February reports that an enzyme known to help keep a woman’s immune system from attacking a fetus also aids in blocking development autoimmune diseases that target healthy tissues, such as DNA or joints.


  4. Sustained Rheumatoid Arthritis Remission Uncommon in Clinical Practice — A study that reports what a large majority of RA patients already know: remission is hard to come by and difficult to define. Of the 871  patients surveyed and 394 of which who were in remission, less than 50 of subjects remained in remission one year later, and the median remission “survival time” was only one year.

Blog of the Week: MagicFaux. Not a chronic illness/autoimmune-related blog, but with my recent surge of creativity I figured I would share with you one of my favourite art tumblrs.

                        

Weekly Link Roundup 3/26/2012

  1. Wego Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge— Starting April 1st, 2012, health activist writers who take the challenge will have 30 days to complete 30 prompts! Interested in taking the challenge? Click to know more. If you’re signed up and ready to go, don’t forget to share your posts on the WEGO health facebook page and tag your posts on twitter with #HAWMC


  2. Lupus Research Institute on Hill Advocating for Professional Training on Lupus— The need for widespread education has been confirmed by a new study of ~1,000 people including lupus patients, loved ones of people with lupus, and rheumatologist, that shows patients often downplay their symptoms to physicians and loved ones. The findings? 87% of patients report downplaying symptoms to their families. 52% report minimizing symptoms to their physicians. Nearly 3/4, or 72%, of physicians did not believe their patients minimize symptoms. Read more to learn about how the LRI is working to close the communication gap.


  3. Fibromyalgia Gene Discovery: High proportion of patients carry one copy of mutation affecting inflammatory response, brain development— A new study released March 10, 2012, found that patients with chronic widespread pain/FMS had significantly a significantly higher proportion of A1AT polymorphisms when compared to other neurological patients. Also interesting, those with JRA and JIA also had significantly higher amounts of A1AT polymorphisms (63%). To read more about this mutation and mechanism and find out what else this study discovered, click the link.


  4. Calling All Rheumatologists— The number of patients is growing, yet the number of rheumatologists is dwindling. Did you know there is a shortage of rheumatologists? Though this article is dated 2011, the shortage is still around, perhaps worse than before (something I will write about shortly) and especially so for pediatric patients. There are as many as 10 states that have no pediatric rheumatologists whatsoever, but there is hope. Click to read about what the American College of Rheumatology and other groups are doing to encourage an increase of rheumatologists!

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