Raynaud’s Syndrome News

Political activism is more accessible than ever thanks to the amplification offered by social media, and rheumatologists can use social media — particularly Twitter — to advocate for the profession and their patients, according to Angus Worthing, MD, private practice rheumatologist and chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the American College of Rheumatology.

In the ever-changing landscape of the United States health care system, rheumatologists need a voice. They need a voice in managing the complex web of drug pricing structures, a voice in developing clinical guidelines, and, on a fundamental level, a voice in simply communicating with all the players involved in running the day-to-day operations of a rheumatology practice.

More than 620 registered attendees from 45 states and 11 countries are traveling to Destin, Florida, this week for the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology, scheduled for May 2 to 5, according to David McLain, MD, FACP, FACR, where they will learn about a wide range of topics from speakers they may not hear anywhere else.

Faced with an increasing incidence and prevalence of autoimmune disease in the United States —approximately 23.5 million Americans are affected across the country, according to the NIH — Bonnie Feldman, MBA, DDS, says it is time to acknowledge what she calls “an invisible epidemic.”

More than 500 patient advocates met in Washington, D.C., this week in recognition of National Rare Disease Week, where they aim to educate and lobby members of Congress, as well as empower themselves to become better voices for those with conditions that seldom get the spotlight.

In two recent randomized clinical trials studying tocilizumab in patients with systemic sclerosis, a weekly regimen of 162 mg was more effective than placebo in preserving predicted forced vital capacity at 24 and 48 weeks, according to an expert at the annual Basic and Clinical Immunology for the Busy Clinician symposium, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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.

Researchers found that the most prevalent adverse effect linked to immune checkpoint inhibitors was inflammatory arthritis, and although most patients received long courses of immune suppression, few required checkpoint inhibitor discontinuation, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Despite a high probability that on-demand sildenafil is superior to placebo in the treatment of Raynaud’s syndrome, aggregate observed findings failed to demonstrate clinically relevant efficacy, according to data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The use of wearable devices that track movement is effective in significantly increasing the amount of and time spent performing moderate to vigorous physical activity, with high short-term adherence, among patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.