Arthritis News

Monday, November 17, 2008 Vitamin D Levels Linked to OA Cartilage Loss, OA Pain, and SSc Disease Activity by ACR Researchers
Low vitamin D levels are associated with faster progression of joint damage, bone loss, and pain in OA and with higher levels of inflammatory markers and vascular complications in systemic sclerosis, suggesting that more attention to vitamin D supplements might be in order...

Thursday, November 13, 2008 H. pylori Suspected in Oral Bisphosphonate Intolerance, SSc Stomach Problems
Helicobacter pylori infects nearly half of patients who cannot tolerate oral bisphosphonates and over 80% of systemic sclerosis patients. Treating H. pylori might reduce GI problems and increase treatment options in these and other rheumatoid conditions...

Thursday, November 13, 2008 Il-6 Blockade Helps Move RA Patients TOWARD Remission
Interleukin-6 blockade with tocilizumab (Actemra^®), when combined with conventional DMARDs, safely and effectively reduces rheumatoid arthritis joint and systemic symptoms in  patients were not helped by DMARDs alone...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Pegloticase Offers Hope to Patients With Worst Types of Gout
Pegloticase (Puricase^®, Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) performed well in two Phase III studies...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Novartis’ ACZ885 Phase III Data Show Rapid, Sustained Clinical Remission in Children and Adults with CAPS, a Group of Rare, Potentially Life-Threatening Autoinflammatory Diseases
Novartis also announced that preliminary results of a phase I/II study in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis showed that most patients treated with ACZ885 achieved substantial clinical improvement within 15 days...

Monday, November 10, 2008 RA Patients Know Less About Treatment Than Doctors Assume
Rheumatoid arthritis  (RA) patients may not be as well-versed on drug treatments as their health care providers think that they are…

Wednesday, November 05, 2008 Study Establishes Safety of Long-Term Juvenile Arthritis Treatments
Three-year data reported at ACR show that long-term etanercept, with or without MTX, is safe and effective in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis...

Tuesday, November 04, 2008 Genentech, Biogen Idec Rituxan Phase III Data in RA Patients Showed Patients who Received Fixed Interval Re-Treatment Maintained Treatment Response; Positive Phase III Data Also Reported for Rituxan plus MTX in Biologic-Naïve RA Patients, Immune Response in Rituxan-Treated Patients Yielded Mixed Results in Phase II Study
Rituxan, in combination with MTX, is indicated to reduce signs and symptoms and to slow the progression of structural damage in adult patients with moderately-to-severely active RA who have had an inadequate response to one or more TNF antagonist therapies...

Monday, November 03, 2008 Tanezumab Reduces Moderate-Severe OA Pain in Phase II Trial
The nerve-growth-factor blocker tanezumab given once every 8 weeks significantly reduced knee OA pain in a phase 2 trial...

Thursday, October 30, 2008 Abatacept Helps Kids With Arthritis Stay in School
Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis treated with abatacept (Orencia^®) missed fewer school days than those who received placebo...