Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Latest Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Blood pressure effects unclear in long-term stroke survivors

Long-term survivors of stroke whose blood pressure is at target levels have worse outcomes than those with slightly elevated levels, research suggests.

17 Feb 2014

Researchers identify new type of regulatory blood cells that can combat brain inflammation

Hyperactivity of our immune system can cause a state of chronic inflammation. If chronic, the inflammation will affect our body and result in disease. In the devastating disease multiple sclerosis, hyperactivity of immune cells called T-cells induce chronic inflammation and degeneration of the brain. Researchers at BRIC, the University of Copenhagen, have identified a new type of regulatory blood cells that can combat such hyperactive T-cells in blood from patients with multiple sclerosis. By stimulating the regulatory blood cells, the researchers significantly decreased the level of brain inflammation and disease in a biological model.

17 Feb 2014

New research points to potential target for treating triple negative breast cancer

New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University finds that a protein that fuels an inflammatory pathway does not turn off in breast cancer, resulting in an increase in cancer stem cells. This provides a potential target for treating triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease.

17 Feb 2014

Poor quality sleep may cause widespread pain later in life

Poor quality sleep may be partly responsible for the aches and pains people develop as they grow older, according to a study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

13 Feb 2014

Alvogen launches Inflectra into Central and Eastern Europe

Alvogen, the multinational pharmaceuticals company, today announced the launch of Inflectra (Infliximab) into Central and Eastern Europe. Inflectra, Europe's first biosimilar monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy that has been approved for the treatment of inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and psoriasis.

13 Feb 2014

Researchers examine link between non-restorative sleep and widespread pain among older adults

Researchers in the U.K. report that non-restorative sleep is the strongest, independent predictor of widespread pain onset among adults over the age of 50. According to the study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology (formerly Arthritis & Rheumatism), a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), anxiety, memory impairment, and poor physical health among older adults may also increase the risk of developing widespread pain.

13 Feb 2014

Sedation before nerve block significantly increases false-positive results, shows study

New research suggests that sedating patients before a nerve block needed to diagnose or treat chronic pain increases costs, risks and unnecessary surgeries, and sedation does nothing to increase patient satisfaction or long-term pain control.

13 Feb 2014

Caution against over-intensive BP control in diabetes patients

Very intensive control of blood pressure in patients with Type 2 diabetes does not prevent cognitive decline and may even be counterproductive, suggest findings from the ACCORD MIND substudy.

10 Feb 2014

Novel combined therapy for treatment of septic patients in ICU

Septic shock is caused by excessive and systemic reaction of the entire body against infectious agents, in most cases of bacterial origin. The number of deaths by septic shock in intensive care units is very high and is still increasing, despite numerous large scale clinical trials.

9 Feb 2014

Glimmer of hope for Alzheimer’s disease sufferers

Hope may be on its way for sufferers of Alzheimer’s Disease as the Griffith Health Institute seeks participants for new research.

7 Feb 2014

TSRI scientists discover unusual protein that probably helps some bacteria evade immune response

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has discovered an unusual bacterial protein that attaches to virtually any antibody and prevents it from binding to its target. Protein M, as it is called, probably helps some bacteria evade the immune response and establish long-term infections.

7 Feb 2014

Pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension common in severe heart failure

Pulmonary hypertension is common in patients with heart failure and is likely to include a pre-capillary component, research suggests.

6 Feb 2014

TSRI scientists design artificial proteins as a candidate vaccine against RSV

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have invented a new method for designing artificial proteins, and have used it to make key ingredients for a candidate vaccine against a dangerous virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of infant mortality.

6 Feb 2014

Blood disorder medicines could be used for treating stomach and bowel cancer

Stomach and bowel cancer, two of the most common cancers worldwide, could be treated with a class of medicines that are currently used to treat a blood disorder, a Melbourne research team has discovered.

5 Feb 2014

ECG abnormalities progress during pulmonary arterial hypertension course

Researchers have identified a number of electrocardiography variables that progress between diagnosis and death in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

4 Feb 2014

Psoriasis registry: an interview with Dr. Andrew D. Robertson, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, National Psoriasis Foundation

Psoriasis is the most common autoimmune disease in the US, affecting 2 to 3% of all Americans. What causes psoriasis in any one individual will stem from a mixture of their genetic background and their environment.

4 Feb 2014