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Rheumatology

News, opinions and meeting coverage in rheumatology.

Ablation Possible for Back Pain When Steroid Injections Fail

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Patients with low back pain who don't respond robustly to intraarticular steroid injections may still be candidates for treatment with radiofrequency ablation (RFA), researchers said here.

Short-Acting Opioids May Have Less Impact on Testosterone

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Men who take long-acting opioids for chronic pain may have a higher risk of hypogonadism than those on short-acting formulations of the drugs, researchers said here.

Follow the Money: Pain, Policy, and Profit

When the Federation of State Medical Boards decided it needed to put a model guideline for opioid use into a book, it reached out and touched the makers of opioid drugs to make it happen.

50-Year-Olds Get New Knees in Record Numbers

During the past three decades there has been a dramatic increase in knee replacement surgeries, particularly among individuals in their 50s, a Finnish study found.

Acetaminophen OD More Deadly if Taken in Stages

Acetaminophen overdoses were more likely to be fatal if patients consumed a series of high doses spread over the course of a day rather than downing, say, a bottle of pills at one time, outcomes among patients admitted to a specialized liver center showed.

ACR: Enbrel May Be Enough for Some RA Patients

CHICAGO -- Monotherapy with etanercept (Enbrel) can keep some rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in long-term remission, researchers said here.

ACR: Savella Brings Relief Long-Term in Fibromyalgia

CHICAGO -- Milnacipran (Savella), a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, brought long-term relief to fibromyalgia patients who remained on therapy, researchers said here.

Training Technique Stresses Athletes' Spines

CHICAGO --The squat lift, an exercise that has long been a standard training technique for athletes, puts inordinate stress on the spine and likely is the cause of chronic stress fractures in young athletes.

Sjogren's Sidelines Venus Williams

When women's tennis star Venus Williams withdrew from the U.S. Open this week, she brought immediate attention to the little-known autoimmune disease Sjögren's syndrome, thought to afflict some 0.5% of adults.

Enzyme Works for Hard-to-Treat Gout

The intravenous enzyme pegloticase (Krystexxa) is an effective therapy for many people whose gout doesn't respond to conventional treatment, researchers reported.

Knee Pain Eased With Combo Treatment

Combination treatment using ibuprofen plus acetaminophen provided better relief of chronic knee pain than acetaminophen alone -- but at the cost of increased side effects, a British randomized study found.

Lab Notes: Red Wine Before Radiation and Red Clover for Hair Loss

Red is the color of the day, as components of red wine and red clover lead this week's Lab Notes, but the blues get their turn in the spotlight, too, as depressed people outshine cheerier folks in some elements of decision making.

Raynaud's Responds to Erectile Dysfunction Drug

The erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil (Viagra) may also help treat Raynaud's phenomenon, one of the most common complications of limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

AAOS: Arthritis Common Career Killer for GIs

SAN DIEGO -- Osteoarthritis is the most common reason for discharge from the military following battlefield injuries, according to a cohort study conducted by U.S. Army doctors.

ACR: Drinking Water May Wash Away Gout Attacks

PHILADELPHIA -- A half-gallon of drinking water a day may keep gout attacks away, researchers said here.

Herniated Disc Surgery Found Cost-Effective

HANOVER, N.H. -- For patients with a herniated disc, surgery proved a cost-effective alternative to nonsurgical treatment over the course of two years, an observational study found.

Oral Prednisolone and Naproxen (Aleve) Equal for Gout Pain

NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands, May 29 -- For the acute pain of monoarticular gout over four days, it's a tossup between oral prednisolone and naproxen (Aleve), a randomized trial found.

Flovent Edges Oral Prednisone for Eosinophilic Esophagitis

INDIANAPOLIS -- Swallowed fluticasone spray (Flovent) may be a better choice for allergic eosinophilic esophagitis in children, researchers here said.

Scleroderma Patients Are Living Longer

WASHINGTON -- The lifespan for patients with scleroderma has increased significantly since the 1970s, in large measure because of a decline in deaths from renal disease.

Gabapentin (Neurontin) Eases Chronic Pain in Fibromyalgia

CINCINNATI -- For treating the chronic pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia, the anticonvulsant gabapentin (Neurontin) proved safe and effective, researchers here reported.

Promising Outcomes in Spinal Disc Cadaver Allografts

HONG KONG -- Replacement of degenerative discs in the cervical spine with cadaver allografts shows early promise as an alternative to fusion or artificial discs, found researchers here.

After Meniscectomy, Thigh Muscle Weakness Impairs Knee Function

MALM脙鈥�, Sweden -- Four years after surgery to repair a non-traumatic meniscus tear, loss of muscle strength in the quadriceps left patients with a painful, unstable knee prone to future osteoarthritis, researchers here reported.

ACR: Humira Does Not Affect Flu Vaccination Efficacy

WASHINGTON -- Vaccination against influenza or pneumococcal disease is safe and effective in people with rheumatoid arthritis who are taking Humira (adalimumab), a researcher said here.

High-Dose Steroids Linked to Risk of Atrial Fibrillation

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands 芒鈧€� High dose corticosteroid therapy may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, researchers here reported.

FDA Approves Rituxan for Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis

ROCKVILLE, Md. - The FDA today approved Rituxan (rituximab) for use in combination with methotrexate to treat moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis that has not responded to traditional treatments.

Epidural Steroid Injection Not Useful for Chronic Shingles Pain

UTRECHT, The Netherlands - An epidural injection of steroids with a local anesthetic did not provide the long-term pain relief doctors anticipated for patients suffering from post-herpetic neuralgia, researchers here said.

Short-Term Use of High-Dose Ibuprofen Linked to GI Bleeding

HAMILTON, Ontario - Taking high doses of Advil or Motrin (ibuprofen) even for a few days can significantly increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, researchers reported today.

IBD Patients Prone to Other Autoimmune or Inflammatory Disorders

PHILADELPHIA-Patients with the inflammatory bowel disorders ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are significantly more likely to suffer from other conditions with an inflammatory or autoimmune basis, said researchers in two separate studies.

Bad News for Cox-2 Inhibitors Was Good News for Mobic

WASHINGTON-The departure of Vioxx (rofecoxib) from pharmacists' shelves last September triggered a boomlet for the NSAID Mobic (meloxicam), which then boosted its prices by 9%, according to a Consumers Union analysis.

Obesity Putting Pressure on the Knees

SALT LAKE CITY-Americans are buckling under their own weight insofar as their knees are concerned.