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MedicineWorld.Org brings daily rheumatology news from various sources to keep you updated on the latest events in the world on this topic. Medicineworld rheumatology news service is the most comprehensive rheumatology news service on the internet. We keep an archive of previous few days of news on this site. Please go down through the list to find the older news items.
Contents:
Tai Chi reduces osteoarthritis pain
 Scientists from Tufts University School of Medicine have determined that patients over 65 years of age with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who engage in regular Tai Chi exercise improve physical function and experience less pain. Tai Chi (Chuan) is a traditional style of Chinese martial arts that features slow, rhythmic movements to induce mental relaxation and enhance balance, strength, flexibility, and self-efficacy. Full findings of the study are reported in the recent issue of Arthritis Care and Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology........
Gleevec may be helpful in sclerodema
 Investigators have identified a drug that is currently approved to treat certain types of cancer, Gleevec, that could provide the first therapy for scleroderma, a chronic connective tissue disease for which a therapy has remained elusive. The news will be presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology on October 18 in Philadelphia........
Immune responses to flu vaccine
 Patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have an increased risk of infection, due to both disturbances in their immune responses and therapy with immunosuppressive drugs. Because morbidity and mortality correlation to influenza are increased in immunocompromised patients, it is recommended that patients with SLE get annual flu shots, which are safe and do not increase disease activity. Both antibody and cell-mediated responses are involved in the immune response to influenza; in SLE, antibody responses to the vaccine are diminished, but it is not known if the same effect is seen in cell-mediated responses. A newly released study was the first to examine cell-mediated responses in SLE patients previous to and following influenza vaccination. The study was reported in the recent issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritis)........
Surgery in patients with RA
 A newly released study published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reveals that one of the most common conditions caused by Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is best treated surgically, sooner rather than later. Patients with RA frequently experience a debilitating condition known as metacarpophalangeal joint disease, which is commonly treated by replacing the knuckle joints with solid silicone joints. However, this therapy (and others like it) has spurred great disagreement between hand surgeons and rheumatologists regarding the indications, timing and perceived outcomes of the procedure; rheumatologists tend to refer late-stage patients for surgery whereas hand surgeons think that earlier intervention can yield more positive outcomes........
Genes, smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
 Recent genetic studies have revealed several new sites of genes that are risk factors for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The strongest association with anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive RA (ACPAs are autoantibodies detected in RA that are used as a major diagnostic tool) has been found for the HLA-DRB1 gene, and this site seems to play a central role in susceptibility to the disease in Caucasian populations. Prior studies have shown a high increase in the risk of ACPA-positive RA linked to smoking in those who have certain variations of the HLA-DRB1 gene. There are several types of such alleles correlation to a particular amino acid sequence known as shared epitope (SE). ACPAs occur in about 60 percent of RA patients and are closely associated with the presence of SE alleles. In fact, SE alleles are the strongest genetic risk factor for ACPA-positive RA........
Tai chi helps to improves arthritis pain
 The results of a new analysis have provided strong evidence to suggest that Tai Chi is beneficial for arthritis. Specifically, it was shown to decrease pain with trends towards improving overall physical health, level of tension and satisfaction with health status. Musculoskeletal pain, such as that experienced by people with arthritis, places a severe burden on the patient and community and is recognized as an international health priority. Exercise treatment including such as strengthening, stretching and aerobic programs, have been shown to be effective for arthritic pain. Tai Chi, is a form of exercise that is regularly practiced in China to improve overall health and well-being. It is commonly preformed in a group but is also practiced individually at one's leisure, which differs from traditional exercise treatment approaches used in the clinic........
Looking to prevent kidney damage in lupus
 Kidney damage linked to the autoimmune disease lupus is associated with a malfunction of immune cells that causes them to congregate in and attack the organs, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered in a mouse study. In a separate study with an international team, the scientists also observed that a certain set of genes appears to protect the kidneys from a different sort of immune attack in both mice and humans........
New drug for fibromyalgia
 For Tara Campbell, the onset of her fibromyalgia began slowly with repeated sore throats, fevers and fatigue. By the time she was diagnosed, a year later, she had become so debilitated by flulike symptoms and exhaustion that she often couldn't get off the couch all day. "Fall, a year ago, I hit my very, very worst," said Campbell, 39, of Walnut Creek, Calif. "I felt overall pain to the point that even when my children or husband just touched me it hurt"........
Vitamin D may make autoimmune disease worse
 Deficiency in vitamin D has been widely regarded as contributing to autoimmune disease, but a review appearing in Autoimmunity Reviews explains that low levels of vitamin D in patients with autoimmune disease appears to be a result rather than a cause of disease and that supplementing with vitamin D may actually exacerbate autoimmune disease........
Why mostly women get lupus?
 In an international human genetic study, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a gene associated with the autoimmune disease lupus, and its location on the X chromosome might help explain why females are 10 times more susceptible to the disease than males. Identifying this gene, IRAK1, as a disease gene may also have therapeutic implications, said Dr. Chandra Mohan, professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study. "Our work also shows that blocking IRAK1 action shuts down lupus in an animal model. Though a number of genes appears to be involved in lupus, we only have very limited information on them," he said........
Physical therapy effective for low-back ache
 A new review article reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons should help convince a number of patients with low back pain to consider physical treatment as a first line of therapy for their condition, as per the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The review, published in February 2009, recommends that in most cases of symptomatic lumbar degenerative disc disease, a common cause of low back pain (LBP), the most effective therapy is physical treatment combined with anti-inflammatory medications. Approximately 75 to 85 percent of adults will be affected by low back pain during their lifetimes.1........
Gene therapy for rheumatoid arthritis
 Scientists have reported the first clinical evidence that gene treatment reduces symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, an important milestone for this promising therapy which has endured a sometimes turbulent past. Described in the recent issue of the journal Human Gene Therapy the findings stem from a study of two patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis conducted in Gera number of and led by an investigator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)........
For fats, longer may not be better
 Scientists have uncovered why some dietary fats, specifically long-chain fats, such as oleic acid (found in olive oil), are more prone to induce inflammation. Long-chain fats, it turns out, promote increased intestinal absorption of pro-inflammatory bacterial molecules called lipopolysaccharides (LPS). This study appears in the recent issue of JLR.......
How skeletal muscle stabilizes the spine?
 The novel design of a deep muscle along the spinal column called the multifidus muscle may in fact be key to spinal support and a healthy back, as per scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Their findings about the potentially important "scaffolding" role of this poorly understood muscle has been published on line in advance of the recent issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.......
New treatment eliminates heel pain
 Combining an ultrasound-guided technique with steroid injection is 95 percent effective at relieving the common and painful foot problem called plantar fasciitis, as per a research studypresented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). "There is no widely accepted treatment or standard of care for patients when first-line therapys fail to relieve the pain of plantar fasciitis," said the study's lead author, Luca M. Sconfienza, M.D., from Italy's University of Genoa. "Our new technique is an effective, one-time outpatient procedure"........
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