Rheumatoid Arthritis News

SAN DIEGO — Challenging accepted treatment paradigms may lead to better outcomes in early rheumatoid arthritis, according to findings presented at the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West.

When it comes to informing treatment decisions, rheumatologists value patient-reported symptoms and physical function over physical findings and test results, according to group polling results published in BMC Rheumatology.

Although cannabidiol — better known as CBD — may help patients with arthritis alleviate their pain, insomnia and anxiety, there have been no rigorous clinical studies to confirm these effects, and the product should never be used to replace DMARDs that prevent permanent joint damage, according to guidance from the Arthritis Foundation.

Celltrion received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for the subcutaneous formulation of its infliximab biosimilar intended to treat rheumatoid arthritis, according to a manufacturer release.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who received tocilizumab demonstrated 11.1% higher serum LDL cholesterol, 5.7% higher HDL cholesterol and 13.6% higher triglyceride levels than those treated with etanercept, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

By the time Lilly Stairs was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at the age of 19 — following an arduous series of tests and doctor visits — she had already been living with an autoimmune disease for 12 years.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who achieve low disease activity with tofacitinib plus methotrexate can safely withdraw methotrexate without fear of worsening disease activity, according to findings published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Longer disease duration and a greater number of previous DMARDs in a patient’s history is associated with decreased response rates to adalimumab plus methotrexate among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to data published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Video telemedicine, when it is offered, is more likely to be used by patients with rheumatoid arthritis who demonstrate higher disease activity, have more positive perceptions of the technology and whose physicians have used it more often, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

IV golimumab, combined with methotrexate, is as efficacious among patients with rheumatoid arthritis who are aged 65 years and older as it is among those younger than 65 years, with a slightly higher incidence of serious infections among the older population, according to findings in Arthritis Research & Therapy.