Rheumatoid Arthritis News

Therapeutic drug monitoring, in which treatments were individually assessed and reviewed, failed to improve remission for patients with a variety of rheumatic diseases who started infliximab, according to a speaker at ACR Convergence.

The height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York caused “substantial” medication changes for rheumatology patients in order to minimize infection risk and potential harm, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis and high baseline interleukin-6, sarilumab was associated with better improvements in physical function and morning stiffness compared with adalimumab, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Multimorbidity is highly prevalent, and progresses more rapidly, among patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared to those without the disease, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Pain is a “key driver” of patients’ perceptions regarding disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis, with physical function and fatigue playing lesser roles, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

America’s weight problem is well known to rheumatologists, with a mounting body of evidence depicting the negative impact of obesity on disease outcomes for patients with rheumatic and autoimmune diseases.

At least 65% of rheumatologists at Veterans Affairs facilities view telemedicine as appropriate for established patients with gout, stable rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, stable spondyloarthritis and other diseases, researchers noted.

Upadacitinib is superior to abatacept in achieving remission and DAS28-CRP change, but is associated with more serious adverse events, among patients with rheumatoid arthritis refractory to biologic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, according to data.

Recent weight changes, as well as high variability in weight, predict cardiovascular events in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Hydroxychloroquine fails to prevent COVID-19 among adults with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus or other related diseases, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.