Polymyositis News

Women aged 18 to 45 years with rheumatic diseases want rheumatologists to play an active role in their sexual and reproductive health, according to findings from a series of interviews published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Despite advancements in the treatments for rheumatic diseases, early mortality rates associated with idiopathic inflammatory myositis have not improved in recent years, according to data presented at the EULAR 2020 E-Congress.

The COVID-19 pandemic, in places like Detroit, with a large working-class population, can highlight the gap between the rich and the poor. It can demonstrate how political unrest can impact the response to a critical situation. Moreover, it can show how health care workers can face both personal and professional challenges in managing an outbreak of this magnitude.

Cancer screening for high-risk patients with scleroderma should involve basic age, sex and risk factor targeted screening, paying particular attention to mammography in women and prostate-specific antigen in men, according to Ami Shah, MD, of John Hopkins University, at the virtual ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium.

Oncologists should be encouraged to promptly consult with rheumatologists in the event of suspected immune-related adverse events due to checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to a series of “points to consider” published by EULAR in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

The very idea of social distancing runs contrary to congregation and celebration, two things that lie at the core of New Orleans culture. It is for this reason, perhaps, that New Orleanians were initially resistant to quarantine measures to contain COVID-19. But as the death toll climbed and Mayor LaToya Cantrell canceled St. Patrick’s Day festivities, the city slowly awakened to the idea that this was serious business.

A newly formed organization, the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance, has launched an international registry to collect data on patients with rheumatic diseases who may or may not have contracted the infection that is causing the global pandemic. The aim is to aid clinicians and researchers in real time as the situation evolves.

High cumulative use of oral glucocorticoids was associated with excess incidence of hypertension, according to research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The situation with COVID-19, or the currently circulating coronavirus, is developing so rapidly that new information may likely be available by the time you reach the end of this paragraph. But along with factual information, misinformation also abounds on social media, on cable news channels and in print publications. Healio Rheumatology will attempt to set the record straight for health care providers looking to sort out fact from fiction.

The United Rheumatology Spring National Meeting will offer attendees lectures on cutting edge topics such as genomics and transcriptomics in addition to a range of continuing medical education activities. But the real appeal of United Rheumatology, and of the meeting, will be the guidance that can be provided to independent rheumatologists regarding practice management strategies and interacting with payers.