VIDEO: Rheumatology ‘lagging behind’ in precision medicine; gout guidelines still divisive
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In a Healio video exclusive, Leonard Calabrese, DO, chief medical editor of Healio Rheumatology, offered a breakdown of the October issue, including the cover story which delved into the topic of individualized precision medicine.
“Where are we in rheumatology with precision medicine?” Calabrese noted. “Other specialties, especially oncology, are surging ahead. We are lagging behind, but we are starting to come on strong.”
The cover story features contributions from a host of experts, including S. Louis Bridges, MD, PhD; Philip J. Mease, MD; Mary K. Crow, MD; Daniel G. Arkfeld, MD, DDS, and; Elena Myasoedova, MD, PhD. In his accompanying editorial, Stanley Cohen, MD, discusses where progress toward applicable treatment biomarkers for rheumatologic diseases has stalled and where the field is still “on the cusp of actually developing” biomarkers that could direct appropriate treatment.
In addition to the cover and editorial, the October issue includes new data regarding the benefit of exercise for patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis, demonstrating that patients who exercise fare better than those who do not.
“What about exercise in osteoarthritis? Is it old school?” Calabrese said. “It’s much more nuanced than that.”
Similarly nuanced are the clinical practice guidelines for gout, with a recent analysis in BMC Rheumatology detailing that most guidelines disagree on when urate lowering therapy should begin and how long it should last, as well as on the use of vitamin C, pegloticase, fenofibrate and losartan.
“Gout guidelines – you would think that this should be settled,” Calabrese noted. “The ACR has had very strong guidelines for a long time, but we have canvassed multiple guidelines, both in the United States and Europe [and found] different targets, different levels, different nuances. Gout is getting to be a complex matrix.”
Calabrese invited readers to dig in to the October issue of Healio Rheumatology by clicking here.
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