Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Latest Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Patients with RA today have easier time with daily living than patients diagnosed two decades ago

New research reveals that patients with rheumatoid arthritis today have an easier time with daily living than patients diagnosed two decades ago. According to results of the study published in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology, anxiety, depressed mood and physical disability have been cut in half over the last 20 years. Researchers believe a reduction in disease activity is partly responsible for this positive change.

3 Dec 2013

People who suffer with chronic pain face daily struggle with sense of self

People who suffer with chronic musculoskeletal pain face a daily struggle with their sense of self and find it difficult to prove the legitimacy of their condition.

3 Dec 2013

Researchers find evidence that gout clusters in families

It's historically known as 'the king of diseases and the disease of kings' and was long thought to be caused by an overindulgent lifestyle, but now scientists at The University of Nottingham have confirmed that 'gout' strongly runs in families.

3 Dec 2013

Oxygen levels play critical role in determining effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs

A new research discovery published in the December 2013 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology yields an important clue toward helping curb runaway inflammation. Oxygen levels play a critical role in determining the severity of the inflammatory response and ultimately the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs.

3 Dec 2013

Hypertension organ risk revealed in Chinese patients

A study of Chinese patients warns of the risk for target organ damage from untreated hypertension, especially for younger patients.

2 Dec 2013

Northwest ImageShare provides better patient care, shorter wait times in emergency departments

Northwest ImageShare, now installed and running at 42 locations throughout the Kitsap Peninsula, is fulfilling its initial goals of better patient care and shorter wait-times spent in the emergency department.

2 Dec 2013

World-class Krembil Discovery Tower now opens in Canada

The Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women congratulated Toronto Western Hospital today on the opening of the Krembil Discovery Tower, a facility dedicated to research excellence, training the next generation of medical professionals and improving health care for patients across Canada.

2 Dec 2013

Study brings effective hepatitis C cure closer to reality

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the most detailed picture yet of a crucial part of the hepatitis C virus, which the virus uses to infect liver cells. The new data reveal unexpected structural features of this protein and should greatly speed efforts to make an effective hepatitis C vaccine.

29 Nov 2013

Medical Research Council should do more in the development of gold standard for clinical trial design

More should be done to celebrate the role of one of Britain’s leading institutions, the Medical Research Council, in the development of the gold standard for clinical trial design. Sir Iain Chalmers, writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, questions the apparent reluctance of the MRC to take credit for its ground-breaking work in the design and management of randomised multicentre controlled clinical trials in the 1950s.

28 Nov 2013

New injectable therapy could help treat rotator cuff injuries

For a baseball pitcher, a rotator cuff injury often means an extended stay on the disabled list for surgery and rehabilitation of the damaged tendons. But a new technology under development may stop this shoulder injury from becoming so severe that surgery is required.

28 Nov 2013

Screening for genetic mutations may help identify silent carriers of adrenal Cushing's syndrome

Genetic research that will be published tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests to Dr. André Lacroix, professor at the University of Montreal, that clinicians' understanding and treatment of a form of Cushing's syndrome affecting both adrenal glands will be fundamentally changed, and that moreover, it might be appropriate to begin screening for the genetic mutations that cause this form of the disease.

28 Nov 2013

Drugs delivered by nanoparticles hold promise for targeted treatment of many diseases, including cancer

Drugs delivered by nanoparticles hold promise for targeted treatment of many diseases, including cancer. However, the particles have to be injected into patients, which has limited their usefulness so far.

27 Nov 2013

Smaller micropolitan areas of the U.S. have very few rheumatologists

A novel study published in the American College of Rheumatology journal, Arthritis & Rheumatism, shows that smaller micropolitan areas of the U.S.-those with less than 50,000 people-have very few or no practicing adult rheumatologist. In some of these areas, individuals have to travel more than 200 miles to reach the closest rheumatologist.

27 Nov 2013

Inhibition of complement system plays major role in xenograft rejection

Researchers at the Bellvitge Institute of Biomedical Research (IDIBELL) led by Cristina Costa from the New Therapies on Genes and Transplantation group have shown that inhibition of one of the basic components of the complement system protects chondrocytes (cartilage cells) from porcine rejection of xenotransplantation (transplantation between animals of different species).

27 Nov 2013

Researchers find that hay fever and allergies make migraines worse

People with migraine who also battle allergies and hay fever (rhinitis) endure a more severe form of headaches than their peers who struggle with migraine, but aren't affected by the seasonal or year-round sniffles, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati, Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Vedanta Research.

26 Nov 2013

BUSM & BMC win GCE grant to develop next-generation condom using nanotechnology

The department of radiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

26 Nov 2013

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes neurodegeneration

As we age, our body rhythms lose time before they finally stop. Breaking the body clock by genetically disrupting a core clock gene, Bmal1, in mice has long been known to accelerate aging , causing arthritis, hair loss, cataracts, and premature death.

26 Nov 2013

Natural compound coumarins exhibit anti-inflammatory as well as anticoagulant activities

New methods for the laboratory-scale synthesis of coumarin-based drugs were developed in a recent study completed at the University of Eastern Finland. In his doctoral thesis, Lic. Phil. Juri Timonen also developed new analytical methods for the fast identification of natural and non-natural coumarins.

26 Nov 2013

Knee surgery for type of meniscus tear can involve difficult tradeoff

Knee surgery for the type of meniscus tear suffered by Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose can involve a difficult tradeoff, according to Loyola sports medicine surgeon Dr. Pietro Tonino, who has performed thousands of knee surgeries.

26 Nov 2013

New diabetes has little impact on outcomes in elderly hypertensives

Established, but not newly diagnosed, diabetes is associated with reduced survival among elderly patients with hypertension, shows an analysis of the ANBP2 study.

25 Nov 2013