Arthritis
Sedentary arthritis patients risk disability
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Few women with arthritis of the hip may be getting the exercise they need to prevent disability, researchers from Japan report.
Moderate-intensity activity can help ease pain, boost function and stave off disability in people with osteoarthritis, Dr. Soichiro Hirata and colleagues from the Kobe University School of Medicine write. However, a few studies have suggested physical inactivity is common among osteoarthritis sufferers, and may be linked to worse pain, poor health and psychosocial problems.
“Identifying inactive patients is important because they are at risk for disability and are expected to benefit most from increasing their physical activity,” Hirata and his team point out.
Exercise, self-help improve knee arthritis
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Exercise and education may give people with knee arthritis a small but important physical and emotional lift, a research review suggests.
In an analysis of 16 studies, researchers at San Diego State University found that both exercise therapy and self-management programs tended to lessen the overall burden of having knee osteoarthritis (OA).
Exercise generally improved arthritis patients’ physical functioning, whereas self-management programs—which teach people how to deal with the daily ups and downs of living with knee OA—tended to boost their psychological well-being.
Bone-building drug helpful in rheumatoid arthritis
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Zoledronic acid, used to inhibit the breakdown of bone and ward off the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, could also be helpful to people with rheumatoid arthritis, researchers report.
According to the results of a small proof-of-concept study, zoledronic acid—also known as zoledronate or Aclasta—increases the benefits seen when treating early rheumatoid arthritis with the standard drug, methotrexate.
As reported in the medical journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, Dr. Paul Emery, from Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds, UK, and colleagues used MRI scans to assess joint erosions in 39 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis who were assigned to receive placebo or zoledronic infusions in addition to methotrexate therapy.
Many people with arthritis skip exercise
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People with arthritis are even less likely than the average American to get enough—or any—exercise, a large U.S. study shows.
Among more than 27,000 adults in a national health survey, those with arthritis were less likely to be exercising at levels recommended by health experts: at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, like brisk walking, or 20 minutes of more vigorous exercise, on most days of the week.
“People with arthritis are not meeting physical activity recommendations made at the federal level and by experts in the arthritis field,” study co-author Dr. Jennifer Hootman, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said in a statement.
Early obesity raises risk of hip replacement later
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Young adults who are overweight or obese may be particularly likely to need a hip replacement later in life, a large study suggests.
Using national data on 1.2 million adults, researchers in Norway found that those who were overweight or obese were at greater risk of eventually needing a total hip replacement due to severe arthritis. Men and women who were heavy before the age of 25 were especially at risk.
The findings underscore the importance of heading off excessive weight gain in childhood and adolescence, conclude the researchers, led by Dr. Gunnar Flugsrud of Ulleval University Hospital in Oslo. Their report is published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Does Not Increase Risk of Hearing Loss
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Mayo Clinic researchers have found that people with rheumatoid arthritis are no more likely to have hearing loss than other members of the general population. The finding is contrary to previous study results that linked the disease to elevated risk of hearing problems.
The study results will be presented Monday at the American Auditory Society annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“This is very good news for rheumatoid arthritis patients,” says Eric Matteson, M.D., Mayo Clinic rheumatologist and senior study researcher. “Patients with rheumatoid arthritis actually have preserved hearing and are no more susceptible to hearing loss than those who do not have the disease; there is no measurable difference with standard testing. This was surprising. I expected to see more hearing loss in rheumatoid arthritis patients.”
Arthritis drug may work better second time around
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Even if an initial course of methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) gives disappointing results, persistence may pay off. A second course may be more successful, researchers report.
As they note in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy, many patients continue to have active disease in spite of intensive therapy with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
Dr. Daniel Aletaha, from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, and associates in Austria identified patients who underwent one course of DMARD that failed and then tried another type of treatment.
Link between rheumatoid arthritis and cancer examined
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Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease of the immune system and is thought to be linked to an increased risk of cancers of the lymphatic system.
The lymphatic system plays an important part in the body’s ability to fight infection.
Although various studies have noted this link, none have been able to pinpoint the specific effects of the disease on lymphoma risk, let alone distinguish them from the effects of disease treatment.
Dietary supplements of little use for arthritis
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In general, the use of glucosamine and chondroitin has little effect on symptoms of knee arthritis, according to results of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Still, these dietary supplements seem safe and patients with moderate to severe pain may experience some relief with them.
“Among alternative caregivers or nutritional supplement providers, (glucosamine and chondroitin) are widely believed to be beneficial,” lead researcher Dr. Daniel O. Clegg told Reuters Health, “and many patients consider that it’s a possibility.”
To determine if the agents are of benefit, Clegg, from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and other members of the Glucosamine/chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT) group enrolled 1,583 patients with knee pain during the previous 6 months.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Carries High Costs for Employers
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a significant but potentially manageable contributor to employers’ health costs, reports a study in the February Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
Led by Ronald J. Ozminkowski, Ph.D., of the Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, the researchers assessed costs associated with RA in a sample of 8,502 workers at nine U.S. companies. Direct and indirect costs for workers with RA were compared with those of a group of workers without RA but matched for other characteristics.
Altruism, better health drive patients to trials
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The opportunity to help others and the possibility of improved health are two of the factors that motivate rheumatoid arthritis patients to participate in clinical trials, new research shows.
“Consideration of these factors may facilitate the inclusion of more diverse patient populations into trials and enhance the applicability of trial results,” senior author Dr. Arthur Kavanaugh and colleagues, from the University of California at San Diego, note in the Journal of Rheumatology.
A little exercise may prevent arthritis disability
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Even a quite modest amount of exercise might be better than none at all when it comes to preventing disability from arthritis, new research suggests.
In a study that followed more than 3,500 U.S. adults with arthritis, researchers found that those who were getting some regular physical activity at the study’s start were less likely than their sedentary peers to develop worsening problems with walking, climbing stairs and other daily activities.
Two drugs better than one for RA
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For adults with early, aggressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA), treatment with a combination of Humira (adalimumab) and methotrexate appears to be more effective than treatment with either agent alone, according to results of the PREMIER study.
Humira is a human antibody designed to block a protein known as tumor necrosis factor, which plays a key role in inflammation. So-called TNF-blockers such as Humira have brought relief to many people with inflammatory conditions such as RA or the intestinal disorder Crohn’s disease.
Light at the end of the tunnel for arthritis sufferers
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There is at last a light at the end of the tunnel for Arthritis sufferers.
The disease which can cause severe pain, leaves many incapacitated with a reduced quality of life.
Osteoarthritis is a form of rheumatic disease, and it affects as many 2 million people in the UK alone.
Wrist splint can help rheumatoid arthritis patients
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Using a wrist splint can improve performance of some daily activities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to Canadian researchers, but for some tasks splints can be a hindrance.
In a study published in The Journal of Rheumatology, the researchers examined the influence of wearing a wrist splint on performance of daily activities in 30 rheumatoid arthritis patients with wrist involvement. The subjects were an average of 57 years old and had rheumatoid arthritis for about 9 years.
