Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders News

Splashy headlines in the mainstream media that proclaim advances in medicine are often not what they seem. That may be the case with a recent series of FDA approvals surrounding the direct-to-consumer genetic testing platform, 23andMe.

Foot pain is associated with female sex, older age and obesity, and its prevalence can range from 13% to 36% depending on which case definition is used, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Patients with chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis on average experience a 2-year delay in receiving a diagnosis and effective treatment, and at least 25% report issues with relationships, school, work, finances and well-being due to the disease, according to data published in Pediatric Rheumatology.

Inflammatory markers were elevated in only 39.6% of patients with chronic nonbacterial osteitis, a condition that can trigger significant disease-related ramifications, with vertebral and mandibular involvement necessitating aggressive treatment, according to data published in Pediatric Rheumatology.

There long-term effectiveness of pain medications for patients with knee osteoarthritis is uncertain, and larger randomized clinical trials are needed to answer questions related to pain control, according to data published in JAMA.

This installment of osteoporosis primer for PAs will focus on the modalities used to diagnosis osteoporosis. To reiterate a diagnosis of osteoporosis could be made in an adult patient aged older than 50 years who has experienced a ground level fall resulting in a fragility hip or vertebral compression fracture. Vertebral compression fractures are the most common fragility type fracture but clearly the fracture associated with the highest mortality are those of the hip. In fact, any fracture, excluding toes, fingers and skull, can be considered osteoporotic fragility type if they occur from a fall from ground level or less. However, follow-up bone density testing for these patients is indicated. These fractures cause substantial pain, disability and decreased quality of life. Besides the increased morbidity that these fractures cause, they are also expensive to the health care system resulting in 2.5 million medical visits and over 400,000 hospital admissions per year.

Kneeling for 30 minutes or longer daily is significantly associated with the prevalence of grade-1 or higher Hoffa-synovitis among a population of patients with or at risk for knee osteoarthritis, with the majority presenting with grade-1 synovitis or higher, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

A single, multidisciplinary session of an individual intervention combining detailed information on functioning, activities of daily living, physical activity, nutrition, assistive devices, instructions on pain management and exercises significantly improved grip strength in patients with hand osteoarthritis, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

CHICAGO — Greater hip abductor strength reduced the 5-year risk for poor functional outcomes and the 2-year risk for tibiofemoral cartilage damage worsening among certain patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to findings presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

CHICAGO — High estimated bone mineral density of the heel and femoral bone density were associated with an increased risk for osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, according to research presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.