Adults with rheumatoid arthritis and higher measures indicating frailty were more likely to sustain an osteoporotic fracture during 4 years of follow-up vs. similar patients with lower indicators of frailty, according to an analysis of Canadian registry data published in Bone. “Higher frailty status is significantly related to increased risk of osteoporotic fractures in patients with rheumatoid…
Metformin use was linked to a reduced rate of medial cartilage loss that may, in turn, reduce the risk for total knee replacement among patients with osteoarthritis who are obese, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy. “Current treatments for osteoarthritis are modestly effective in pain relief with short-term effects, with no treatments that slow disease…
Clinical examination using the patellofemoral grind test can help predict which patients with knee pain are most likely to progress to osteoarthritis requiring arthroplasty. A large study of more than 4,000 participants from the National Institutes of Health Osteoarthritis Initiative found about 16% had a positive patellofemoral grind test – assessed as pain on distal force at…
Overall obesity measured by body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increased risk for gout and with higher serum urate concentrations, according to the results of a Mendelian randomization study published in Rheumatology. The investigators sought to explore whether overall obesity, as measured by BMI, and abdominal obesity, as measured by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) adjusted for BMI,…
HealthDay News — Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), particularly elderly patients, who receive the influenza vaccine have significantly lower morbidity and mortality, according to a study published in the June issue of the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases. Chun-Ming Chen, of the Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital in Chiayi City, Taiwan, and colleagues conducted a retrospective population-based…
Use of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) has significantly reduced the revision rate following total hip arthroplasty (THA) for osteoarthritis, according to a study published in the Aug. 1 issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. Richard de Steiger, M.B.B.S., from the University of Adelaide in Australia, and colleagues evaluated data from a national registry for all…
The initiation of statin therapy is not associated with an increased risk for the development of hand osteoarthritis (OA), regardless of age, gender, statin agent, statin dose, preexisting dyslipidemia, or duration of treatment, according to the results of a propensity score-matched sequential cohort study using data from the UK-based Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Findings from the analysis…
A genetic screening could potentially identify individuals with an increased risk for low bone mineral density (BMD), osteoporosis, or fracture, according to the results of a genome-wide association study published in PLoS One. The study identified 899 loci associated with low BMD, 613 of which were new. The study sought to explore genetic predictors that could assist…