Fibromyalgia News

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — The rheumatic effects of checkpoint therapy remain, despite their increased spotlight in recent years, among the most poorly defined of the immune-related adverse events associated with the emerging cancer treatment, according to Cassandra Calabrese, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic.

The key elements that guide the diagnosis of chronic idiopathic musculoskeletal pain do not primarily come from physical exam, but from the patient’s history of pain and the physician’s opinion, according to findings published in Pediatric Rheumatology.

Frequent mental distress is commonly reported among adults with arthritis across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., with the highest prevalence reported in the Appalachian region and southern states, according to data published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The rheumatology community lost clinician and educator Calvin R. Brown, MD, on Dec. 1, 2019. He was 66 years old. His final years were spent at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, practicing rheumatology and training fellows in the specialty.

Juvenile primary fibromyalgia is unique among pediatric rheumatic diseases regarding pain and disability ratings, with pain significantly higher in these patients than those with other childhood rheumatic conditions, according to data published in Pediatric Rheumatology.

Four weeks of active transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS, can significantly improve pain triggered by movement and other clinical outcomes among women with fibromyalgia, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Among women with fibromyalgia, commute time, work difficulties, limited career progression, repetition and a lack of recognition are all greater independent risk factors for sick leave than any disease characteristics, according to survey findings published in BMC Rheumatology.

When journalist Ben Hammersley coined the word “podcast” in 2004, he was attempting to put a name to the phenomenon resulting from the timely convergence of widely available MP3 player technology, inexpensive audio software and weblog culture — a renaissance of radio programs that could be downloaded and played at the listener’s convenience, anytime or anywhere.

ATLANTA — A vast majority of patients with a cross-section of rheumatic diseases reported that pain, fatigue and mental health issues were those they would like researchers to track, according to a speaker at ACR/ARP 2019.

ATLANTA — The incidence of opioid-related hospitalizations among patients with musculoskeletal conditions increased markedly over the past 2 decades, with continued growth among patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, according to a presentation at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting.